Champions of the Universe
by Joshua The Evil Guy
Summary: BTVSDBZ Crossover. Buffy is Chosen by The Powers That Be to participate in a Universal Tournament and is forced to Train in order to get stronger and survive. Chapter 2 The Training Updated!
1. The Beginning

**Champions Of The Universe: **

_**Buffy the Vampire Slayer**_

_Disclaimer:_ In no way do I own any of these characters, or their histories, except of course for the Powers, the Compound, and bits and pieces of the technology, which is really more an amalgam of all fictional tech I've ever been exposed to. All characters and other links to the television show _"Buffy the Vampire Slayer"_ belong to Joss Whedon, and the respective production companies. Anything related to Dragon Ball Z belong to their respective creators. Anything or any persons belonging to other fictional sources, TV, books or movies, belong to their respective creators. This is entirely a work of fiction, and in no way do I promote or believe any of the things within here written, nor do I stand to make any sort of profit.

**The Beginning:**

It had been a busy night so far for the "Slayerettes" as they called themselves. It was the middle of October, about three or so weeks since Spike showed up on the night of St. Vigeous. And it seemed, to Buffy anyway, the vampires were becoming more and more aggressive since the Master Vampire had strolled into town with his insane sweetheart, Drusilla.

The night had started relatively normal enough, if you call reading 700-year-old books, practicing fighting the undead, swinging wood stakes, and walking through graveyards normal. Well, for the Slayer it was certainly normal, as the one girl in all the world given the power, and above all else the responsibility, of saving the world from the demons, the vampires, and the forces of darkness.

Buffy, Xander, and Willow had already taken care of the "early risers" or the vampires that had just been put in the ground, and were due to rise in the early evening, just after the sun had set. That much was fairly routine, with Xander and Willow off to the side as Buffy beat the un-living crap out of the stupid fang-faces.

After the first five or so, Xander began to comment on the very thing Buffy was thinking.

"You know, it just occurred to me, this is like the fifth or so vampire we've dusted tonight," he said offhandedly as they strolled through their third graveyard of the night.

"We?" the blonde superhero questioned with an upraised eyebrow.

"OK, _you_, oh Buff-Meister Supreme of all Super-heroines everywhere," the lanky brunette sarcastically retorted. "The point remains, that was still the fifth vamp tonight."

"Yeah, so?" Buffy asked, keeping her senses on high alert, looking for any other vamps in the area.

"Well, don't we usually give up around midnight because we can barely find one? So that way we can have some Bronze time?" When no response came, "Well, don't we?"

"What's your point Xander?" Willow asked, also keeping her eyes and ears peeled.

"I just find it kinda funny that we've already dusted five vamps tonight, and oh look, here come some more." Xander said, pointing to the three or so vampires heading directly towards them. Willow and Buffy also saw them, as well as the other two sets of three coming on either side of them.

"What's your point Xander?" Buffy repeated, getting out 'Mr. Pointy' before rushing the three vamps coming from the right.

"My point is," Xander paused to shove a cross in the face of the vampire on his left, kicking the other in the gut, and staking the last one, all in a single and surprisingly quick move, taking the overconfident vampires by surprise, "maybe something is going on. I've never seen…" pause again so that he could stake the one behind the cross and knock the doubled over one with the butt of the cross, "…fang faces work together like this before. Not to mention that they seem to be getting closer to the _point_…" he emphasizes as he stakes the last vampire. "…of outnumbering us. I just find that kinda funny."

Xander then looked around at his comrades in arms. Buffy was taking on four vampires at once, with two piles of dust already at her feet. She didn't need any help. Willow, on the other hand was dealing with two. She seemed to be attempting a spell of some kind, but it was also clear that the vampires weren't about to let her finish.

"Need any help Will?" Xander asked in a good-natured tone, confident in his childhood friend's ability. Also, Buffy was here, and he knew she would never willingly let anything happen to the red-haired witch.

Suddenly there were four unearthly screams of pain, one right after the other. Buffy walked up next to Xander and stared at Willow still trying to mumble her way through a certain spell while hiding behind a tombstone, the Slayer ready to jump in at a moments notice.

Finally, Willow seemed to get it right, came out of hiding, and pointed a finger at each vampire on either side of her. Two fireballs, both roughly the size of softballs, flew from Willow's fingertips to connect solidly with each vampire. The two screamed and tried to stop the flames, but that only seemed to increase the amount of fire they were on. After several moments struggles, the two finally were engulfed in the flames and burned away to ash.

"Nice going Willow." Buffy exclaimed as the exhausted witch-in-training came up to the two friends. To which the pale redhead responded with a muttered thanks, before collapsing to her knees in exhaustion.

Fortunately, Buffy caught her before she hit the ground. "Will! Willow! Are you all right? Speak to me Will!" Buffy started shouting at her nearly unconscious best female friend. She began to panic, afraid that another of her friends had gotten hurt because she was the Slayer.

"Buffy…" Willow muttered, her eyes closed.

"Will! Thank God! Are you all right? Willow, speak to me!" Buffy shouted again.

"You said that already," Willow responded opening her eyes some.

"Will, are you OK?" Buffy was on the verge of tears as she held Willow close, with a highly worried Xander on the other side of their friend.

"Yeah, I'm OK. Its just exhausting using magic like that. It was a new spell, and I wanted to try it out. I guess I kinda jumped the gun a little. Don't worry Buffy I'm fine, just really, really tired, that's all. Though I wouldn't say no if one of you wanted to hold me up for a while, cause I don't think I can stand all that well right now," the redhead explained with a tired smile.

Both Buffy and Xander took a sigh of relief and considered taking turns holding Willow, which was soon no longer a priority as they all heard a massive explosion not twenty meters away. "Of course, adrenaline sometimes helps in getting rid of exhaustion." Willow exclaimed as she stood up, ready to run for her life, or to run and help save somebody. "So, what do we do?" she asked. "Run for home, like scared little, yet cautious and sane, sissies, or run headlong into danger?"

They all exchanged a glance with Buffy, who shrugged, and headed as fast as she could in the general direction of the explosion. "Silly me," Willow said as she defied her body's need of rest and ran after her friends, Xander right behind the blonde Slayer.

As they approached, Buffy paused, just outside of the area where the explosion had seemingly occurred. Willow caught up a few seconds later, breathing heavily and feeling the need to faint again. Buffy glanced at her worriedly and asked, "Will, are you OK? I can probably handle whatever this is by myself. Xander can take you back home."

Willow, with labored breathing, shook her head no. "No…'huff, huff'…I'll be…'huff'…OK. 'Huff, huff, huff,' Besides, what if…'huff'…you need magic help, or something else. 'Huff' I'm OK Buff. See, better already!" Willow finished, right before leaning heavily on the shorter blonde girl standing in front of her.

"Yeah, sure, right Will," Buffy said, easily supporting the petite young woman in her arms.

"Um, guys… I think you need to see this," Xander commented from around the corner of the mausoleum they were behind. Buffy held Willow for a moment or two longer, before the redheaded witch took a deep breath and held herself steady, and nodded. Together, they both walked around the stone building.

"What is it, Xan… der... ?" Buffy trailed off as both young women caught sight of the scene before them.

Less than thirty feet away from them stood a massive structure. It still fit inside the cemetery, but it was impressive in its own right for existing at all. It consisted of a raised dais nearly 50 meters in length alone, and another 40 or so, maybe, in width. On the backside, rising up from the back of the dais was a wall, a 20-meter high wall that was, again with the maybe, 3 meters thick. It also held numerous intricate designs as part of it, with no discernible pattern of time period that could be determined about it.

For starters, at the top of the wall, on either side were full size gargoyle statues! The front portion merely had two columns, one on either side of the dais. Nothing too fancy, just straight Roman columns, except of course that they had green fire at the tops that was the illumination for the area. But the outside was hardly the most impressive part of the structure. In the middle of the dais sat three massive, and massive means 7-meters wide and 15-meters high, thrones. That's all they could be really. The smallest of which was roughly 10-meters high, and the tallest, the center one, nearly reached the top of the back wall. Yet despite the sheer size and shape and design of the thrones, it was nothing compared to the three robed individuals that sat in them.

As amazingly impressive, and awe-inspiring as all of it was, that was not the first thing that the Slayerettes saw. No, the first thing they saw was the fight occurring right in front of said structure. A fight between a 2-meter tall, full-meter wide vampire and a two-and-a-half-meter tall blue demon looking thing. They weren't quite sure that it was a demon though, mostly because while its anatomy was definitely similar to that of Earth's, and therefore Hell's, it had no mouth, purple eyes (on stalks) and a very long tail, that resembled a Stegosaurus's. Also, since it had no mouth, the fact that it was speaking in a language that none of them had ever heard, much less heard _of_ before, made the fact that it was an alien all the more relevant.

As they stood there, the blue alien thingy, or whatever it was, suddenly launched itself what could have been 50 meters in the air, shouted something in its alien language and all of a sudden a massive green fireball shot from its arms and collided with the vampire. Who surprisingly didn't turn to dust as the others did when Willow had shot her fireballs at them earlier. It then fell the 50 meters that it had jumped, and solidly kicked the vampire in the head, which sent the undead creature some 20 odd meters back towards them.

Normally, any vampire that came across anything that could do what this alien was doing would back off and run scared. This one got back to his feet, growled and launched himself back at the alien and managed to land a solid punch before they began to trade blows almost faster than even Buffy could keep up with. Unfortunate for the vampire, the blue alien seemed to be getting more and more hits behind the vampire's defenses. Finally, the vampire found an opening and lunged at the alien creature's neck. However, it was not meant to be as the alien grabbed the vampire in one massive fist, muttered something in its alien language that they couldn't quite hear, and then it grabbed the vampire's head in its other hand, and pulled.

The normal scream was emitted from the vampire as it turned to dust in the creature's fist after it has decapitated the largest vampire that the Slayer had ever seen like it was tearing a piece of plastic in two. That is when the three figures on the three thrones stood. Whereas their chairs were massive and tall, _they_ were humongous! The one in the center pointed at the blue creature, who then bowed in respect, and then disappeared in a flash of light.

Just about that time, Rupert Giles, Buffy's Watcher, came running up behind the three teenagers. Shouting no less. "Buffy! Buffy! Willow! Xander! Buffy!" he was screaming as he ran towards them with a book in his raised left hand.

He stopped, just around the corner of the mausoleum behind them and began to speak very rapidly. "Buffy, I've found a new prophecy! It involves the Slayer, her Watcher, a witch and her ally. There is also something about 'Colossal tests of The Powers That Be,' which I'm afraid to guess at the true meaning. And something else…"

"Giles, I think I know what it means," Buffy quietly interrupted the sputtering Watcher.

Giles was halfway into his next paragraph before he paused at the realization of what she'd said. "You what…?" he asked, perplexed as he stepped from around the stone building, looking only at her, not even peripherally detecting what was directly behind him now.

"What do you mean you already know? How could you possibly know…? Did you have another prophetic dream? Buffy, you really must tell me when these dreams occur, there could be dire consequences if I do not have the time to properly research and decipher the dream elements…"

"G-man…" Xander interrupted.

"And another thing… Yes, what is it Xander?" Giles exasperated, looking at him.

Xander's only response was to point behind the elder English Watcher. Giles scrunched his face in confusion, and then letting curiosity get the better of him, he slowly turned around, and looked up. "Oh…dear," was all the middle aged watcher said, staring at the "colossal" figures before him.

"Yeah, I figure that about sums it up," Xander said casually, none of them taking their eyes off of the three robed figures.

Suddenly, the middle figure moved. It had been perfectly still from the moment that the blue alien demon creature, or whatever it had been, disappeared. Now, it moved its arm back to its side, and its hood seemed to move, just the tiniest bit in their direction. They all pretty much knew what that meant.

"OK, three guesses as to what I'm figuring we should do right now," Xander said, in a slightly more panicky tone.

"Run!" Buffy shouted before grabbing Willow and running as fast as she could carry the girl in the direction that they had all just come from. Xander and Giles were two seconds behind them. The figure seemed to sigh, or at least a sound like a loud wind could be heard, and its shoulders drooped a bit, but all it did was gesture with its right hand in the direction of the group.

As soon as it gestured, Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Giles found themselves standing before the structure, though it was scaled to much more human terms. Rather than 15 meter thrones, and 30 meter columns, and 100 meter tall robed titans, they found themselves in front of a half completed structure about the size of Buffy's back yard, and 10 meter tall columns that still had green fire on the tops. And the robed figures were closer to 1 to 2 meters in height rather than 100. Also, they noticed, as though for the first time, two much smaller figures, both about half a meter tall, also wearing robes, but they were styled differently. They stood just outside of the structure.

Remembering, Buffy realized that these two had been there before, during the fight, exactly as they were right now, size and everything.

Taking a look around, Buffy realized they were no longer in the cemetery, and hadn't they just been running? The ground was covered with a thick fog, and when they looked behind them, all they saw was blackness. The only visible source of light was coming from the torches on top the columns, yet the entire area seemed as though it were day, but again, there were no shadows cast that any of them could see.

They all took a minute or two to adapt that something had changed. Willow was the first to comment. "Uhm, guys? What, uh what exactly just happened here?"

"What's going on here? Who are you?" Buffy asked in her 'Slayer' voice to the three standing figures.

**_"WE ARE THE GUARDIANS. AND YOU, SLAYER, HAVE BEEN CHOSEN TO BE OUR CHAMPION IN THE TOURNAMENT OF THE POWERS."_** The central figure seemed to say, though the deep booming voice seemed to resonate from every direction also.

"Giles, you were saying something about a prophecy?" Buffy asked, never taking her eyes off the three robed figures. She also made sure to keep the other two, at least peripherally, in sight as well

"Uh, uhm, y-y-yes. Yes, yes here it is." Giles responded, opening the book that he was still holding in his hand.

And with some slight trepidation, and obvious nervousness, Giles stuttered his way through the prophecy that would change not only all of their destinies, not just their world, and not just _their_ Universe. It would change the very meaning of their existence and purpose in the space/time continuum, and every resonating dimension within the touch of theirs, forevermore. Thus, the teens made sure to pay extra close attention.

THE PROPHECY:

ON THE NIGHT OF THIRD PLAY SECOND PHASE FIRST NIGHT

IN HEAVENS VIEW LACK OF BRIGHTEST LIGHT FOURTH OF WARRIOR'S GIRDLE

SHALL BE CALLED THE SLAYER THE FAIR HAIRED CHILD OF SINEA

ONE MEANT TO DIE YET LIVES TO FIGHT AND CALLS FORTH HER SISTER OF SINEA

CHOSEN ONE MUST BE CHOSEN FOR TRUTH IN DESTINY BEYOND

WITH WATCHER WITCH AND ALLY BESIDE SHALL SHE TAKE THE LIGHT OF TRUTH

FROM SON OF SON OF SON OF ONE EARTHS GREATEST HERO

TO BE CHOSEN FOR ANOTHER ONE MUST WITNESS COLOSSAL FORMS OF POWERS

THAT TO BE TESTED IS TO LEARN THE WISDOM OF HER LIGHT IN TRUTH

DO NOT FEAR THE CHILDREN OF THE HEAVENS ABOVE AND BELOW YOUR LIGHT

THEY BRING THE WAY TO THE TRUTH AND THE TRUTH ITSELF TO YOU

CHOSEN ONE MOVE LIKE LIGHTNING STRIKE LIKE WATER FLY LIKE WIND FIGHT

POWERS CHOOSE THEIR CHAMPIONS WISE DOUBT NOT YOUR ALLY

HIS TIME SHALL SOON COME TOGETHER WITH YOURS AND HE WILL BE YOURS

"Well, that is about it, I'm afraid." Giles said as he finished the prophecy. He closed the book and looked up at the three faces that were staring blankly at him. "What?" he asked innocently.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Buffy incredulously asked, looking at her Watcher, the man with all the answers to everything supernatural, so far, in or on the Hellmouth. Which as far as she knew, they were no longer on.

"Uh, um, well, I… I suppose…" Giles stuttered until Xander interrupted him. "You don't know, do you?" he said in a biting sarcastic voice.

"Well, um…no. No, I don't," Giles said dejectedly, looking down.

**_"Well, we do, if you'd like to hear the basic meaning and proper translation into English texts,"_** said the robed figure just to the left of the central figure. (The figure's left)

With that, the four turned to face the three giants. Just because they weren't towering up high didn't mean they weren't still tall. Now that she looked, Buffy could see slight differences in the three figures. The one in the middle was the tallest, and its robe was trimmed in gold. The one on its (the figure's) left was a few inches shorter than it, and was trimmed in silver. The one on the right was much shorter than the others, and its robes were soft beige and lined with a deep green.

"What do you mean? Who are you? What is going on here?" Buffy rapid-fired asked.

Again the center one seemed to sigh as he repeated his earlier answer, though in a less booming voice. **_"We are the Guardians. And you, Slayer, have been chosen to be our champion in the Tournament of the Powers."_**

"Yeah, I heard all that. But what does that mean? In case you hadn't noticed, we don't exactly know what's going on. And until we do, I'm not going to be anybody's champion in any tournament. Now I'm going to ask only one more time. WHAT IS GOING ON!!!?" Buffy screamed.

At this statement, the two smaller robed figures turned to look at the three larger ones. The three standing figures stiffened, as though shocked or scared of something. After a moment or two the smaller robes, as Buffy was beginning to think of them, returned to their original positions, and the big robes seemed to come to some sort of decision.

**_"Allow us to explain,"_** the one in beige and green said, **_"We are, by a title you might be more familiar with, the Powers That Be. Though in truth we are the Guardians, the Guardians of the Balance of All, keepers of the Ancient arts of Time and Space. We are the Masters of the Champions of Light, and the source of all such power in _this_ universe. We hold a depth of power against the darkness of chaos and destruction. Once there was balance between the two. That was shattered with the beginning of the War. The War of Good and Evil. The very War that you have been destined to fight in from birth. We strive to maintain as much of the balance as possible, yet strive that "Good" will triumph over Evil. In essence, we are the ones that Chose you, Buffy."_**

The use of her name was the least of which startled the blonde Slayer. And she wasn't the only one affected by the higher being's words. Both Willow and Giles knew who and what these creatures claimed to be. Buffy had a clue, but Xander was completely in the dark.

"Oh, wow," Willow gaped, looking like she was about to faint.

"Oh my word…" Giles trailed off as he removed his glasses, cleaning them on his shirt before placing them back on his nose. Buffy, however, wasn't taking her eyes off the three big robes, while Xander was looking back and forth between all his friends, and the three big robes like one big convoluted ping-pong tournament.

"With you so far," Buffy finally responded, not sounding too happy at the moment.

**_"Perhaps, I might assist, dear sister."_** The one in silver says to green. **_"I suppose it would do if you knew just a tiny portion of the history of the ages, so that you might fully understand, as you put it, 'what's going on.'"_**

_**"Approximately, 75 hundred eons after the Big Bang as you know it, the One Universe, the First and True **_**Universe****_ underwent a rapid and highly unusual change. A cataclysmic event that no one is quite sure what it was or who or what started it. All that is known is the end result. The _Universe_ was about to be destroyed. In the end though, the One that Created Everything, the Creator prevented it. Again, how this was done is not known, only that the Universe was spared destruction, but at a cost."_**

_**"The cataclysm had created subsequent instabilities in the very fabric of Space/Time and the energy of the very Universe was turning in on itself, like a cancer. And so it was fixed. The very essence of Space, Time, and Energy itself were separated and reorganized in how they functioned. Thus was the beginning of the Multi-verse. Many different universes, dimensions, planets, choices, events and destinies suddenly became divided and anything was possible."**_

_**"Yet this was only the beginning. The ones to do this, to take the power of Time, Energy, and Space as their own. The only ones that could be found that were ready and understood the power that they were told to possess. It was all given to two. A brother and a sister. Together they would control all Time, all Energy, and have power over all Space. But only together."**_

**_"The two who were chosen were new to the Multi-verse. To reality really. So when they were given this power, and told what they were to do with it. They thought it would be easy. Once, when they tried to combine all the separate universes back into one, chaos ensued yet again. They were not meant to change things back to the way they were, they were meant to make order and sense out of the chaos of the Multi-verse. So they did. They spent the next 50 eons exploring each universe, in all time periods, on all tracks and paths and decisions. They knew how everything worked, and understood all. Except for three things. Good. Evil. And Sentient Beings. Good, was nothing but order and the total and complete lack of evil or rejection thereof. Evil was chaos, greed, anger, rage, all self-destructive emotions and states. Because the Powers, as they called themselves since there was only two of them and they controlled the powers of reality, were meant to bring balance to reality, they could not understand why "Good" was better than "Evil" or why "Evil" fought so hard, only to kill itself later on. The concept of pure universes of either was beyond their grasp, as it is with so many. Yet, what confused them the most was Sentient Beings, creatures with free will, emotions, and everything that makes them unique to each other, could choose one exclusively over the other. They did not understand the war of Good and Evil, which aside from them was the only constant in every universe of the Multi-verse."_**

"They aren't the only ones kind of confused by that." Buffy commented as The Power That Talked paused for a moment.

**_"Well, yes. It would take somebody insane and with the knowledge of the Powers to fully understand it all. Because that is all it really is. Insanity. Yet, in choosing a side, we, Guardians, have decided to wield champions in defense of those that are pure Good against the champions that are and support pure Evil. So, 10 eons ago, after the fall of demon kind on Earth, the Powers decided that they wanted to know who was stronger, those that fought in defense of Good, because those that were Good could not fight, otherwise they would no longer be pure Good. Or those that fought in the name and powers of Evil and darkness. To put it simply, they asked everybody why this was the way it is, and who would eventually win, if anybody. The answer was, I don't know. Every time. So they put it to a test. Taking a single sampling from each universe, only the strongest of each, those that fought for Good, and those that fought for Evil. They would then fight to the death. Those that would win, would continue living until the next tournament, where it would start over until a complete outcome would be decided."_**

Everybody scrunched their faces up in confusion. "Well, what's the point of that?" Xander blurted out. All attention was drawn to him as the one in gold, the one that spoke the least but was obviously the leader, answered his question.

**_"So that the Powers would be able to understand the War of Good and Evil, by witnessing just the smallest portion of it. They would also grant you immortality, save for when you fight in the Tournament. You would not die of being the Slayer, and none of you could die in the ways of this world, you would only die in the Tournament. The rules are not many, but rather complex. They will be explained to you when you accept this destiny."_** He said. Buffy was sure it was a 'he'.

Xander again, blurted out; "Again, what's the point of having a tournament where the only prize is you don't die until the next fight?"

This time, surprisingly, one of the smaller figures spoke, but not in the commanding boom of The Powers That Be, but rather the voice of a young child. "The point is, we grant you a level of power that would be of considerable use to you in your universe, as well as immortality, and you kill demons and creatures of evil from all over the cosmos. Also, to be aware, the rules are quite clear; every fight can be fought to the death, unless both opponents agree to stop. Except in the final round. Only there _must_ the fight end in the death of one side or the other."

"We?" Xander asked.

"The Powers," the small robed figure answered. He then removed his hood, revealing the face and head of a young blonde haired boy about the age of 8. The other figure, on the other side of the structure, also removed her hood, revealing a young blonde haired girl of the same apparent age.

"Whoa!" was the only response out of the lanky dark-haired youth. Giles just stared, and Willow, she looked like she was smiling at them. Buffy on the other hand could almost sense the power they held, and knew first hand how appearances could be deceiving. Buffy decided to push the envelope, seeing if she enraged these Powers by dissing them and their _"sport"_, then maybe they would make a mistake and she could get them out of there.

"OK, hold it." Buffy said in a loud clear voice. "You're telling me that the masters of the universe are a couple of 8 year old kids? Get real. And I don't know what game you three are playing, but if you are the all-mighty Powers That Be, then you'll understand that I don't like being toyed with. I got stuck with this destiny crap because you are too lazy to take care of these things by yourself, so you send little girls to take care of it for you, and so what if they die young, they're your champions, you can do with them as you please! Well, buckos, listen up, and listen up good, I am not your lap dog, and I am not something that you can just trade off to impress your bosses! And I am not fighting for anybody, except for myself!"

"And as for you two, if you really are these Powers that I don't for a second believe even exist, you can take your damn _sport_ and shove it up your asses for all I care. I'm not about to enter a street fight for two higher being's pleasure when the only reward I get is another fight where hopefully I won't die. Thanks but no thanks." And with that, Buffy turned around in a huff and started walking away. Not really towards anything, but rather just away from the five robed figures and their "destiny".

"Buffy?" Willow says as the blonde walked past her.

**_"SLAYER!"_** The central gold figure yelled, but she kept on walking.

**_"Buffy…"_** the one in green trailed off. She was sympathetic to the mortal girl's plight, but also needed Buffy just as much as the rest of them.

"Perhaps we should better explain, Miss Summers," the blonde girl stated, just before Buffy reappeared right in front of her.

"What the...? How? What just…?" Buffy stuttered as she realized what happened.

"My name is Samantha. Samantha Power. My twin brother, Samuel Power and I agreed to this Tournament, and its rules a _very_ long time ago. Even by our standards. Though to you we may look young, it is only a partial illusion. We truly have no true forms or bodies, but according to our species, this is the stage of our current maturity and growth. We often take on the appearance of the species that we wish to join in the Tournament. In doing so with humans, we are currently at the stage of maturity between that of childhood and what you call pubescence. So it's safe to say, that yes we are children, but only for our species, because we are far older than even the Guardians appear to be."

"Oh, wow. And they only look a few millennia old." Buffy says sarcastically. The blonde child, Samantha, smiled and turned to look at the three robed creatures of Light and Balance.

"Furthermore," Samantha continued, "what they've just told you is the 'cleaned-up' propaganda version of what we truly are."

"Oh, and what's that?" the Slayer sarcastically sneered.

"The Omni-verse's Janitors," Samuel answered. Buffy looked over at him in surprise at the answer.

"Huh?"

"We get to clean up the mess left over from Creation," Samantha continued, "as well as the whole war of good and evil. That especially tends to leave some pretty big messes."

"Our predecessors just had to make sure everything worked," the little blonde informed Buffy, "Whereas with us, everything already works, and there are things like the Powers That Be, like the Guardians here, to make sure it keeps working. The only time we really step in is when things are going screwy or in the aftermath of some universal disaster. Hence why a pair of kid janitors are given absolute dominion over Space, Time, and Energy."

"So that load of crock about wanting to better understand the differences between good and evil . . ."

"Propaganda," the Powers said together.

"And the real reason for this . . . this . . . what do you call it?"

"Tournament," Samantha answered the latter half of the question.

"We get bored," Samuel answered the first half.

"Excuse me!!" the teenager screeched.

"Buffy," Samantha spoke with a wisdom infinitely beyond her young appearance, "We're kids. With the power to control all Space. All Time. And all of the Energy of the entire freaking Omni-verse for crying out loud! Now at first, we were pretty busy, cleaning up everything left from the split into separate universes. In fact we had so much to do we didn't even do anything else _but_ clean it all up. And it took us a few eons, but now all you've got is white noise and other traces from the Big Bang that quite frankly is like cleaning microscopic pieces of dust particles compared to everything else."

"And despite what it looks like, thanks to Champions like you being around, messes that require our attention are few and far between. Now tell me the truth, would you really deny a pair of kids with our power and our responsibility, the right to set up our own entertainment, whatever it might be, just to keep us from getting bored?"

Buffy winced as the logic hit her square between the eyes.

"Still doesn't explain why me," she argued back. "Get to the point already."

"Fine. We will then, how you say, get to the point," Samuel said just a second before Buffy suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Miss Summers, we, my sister and I, don't have emotions." Buffy stared in disbelief at the flat statement, not sure how to even react besides staring.

"Not on any level that you could understand really," Samuel continued. "Not even the simplest most basic of them. Fear? What have we to fear? Anger? We are meant to maintain balance, so what can anger us if it is meant to be? Pleasure? We get no pleasure from watching beings kill each other, and themselves. Nor do we get pleasure in watching creatures born, only to die less than a second later. So, we try and find pleasure, entertainment, a minor occupation to relieve the boring task of watching everything in the cosmos, in watching two factions of the Omni-verse live, fight, and die with each other. Can you say anything about yourself, or your species that would put you above us in this?"

Buffy was about to say something, when she actually thought about the question, she realized that if anything, humans were probably the worst to compare to higher beings that conduct a fair street fight against beings that would kill themselves anyway. This way, they might have a chance to get out alive and as long as they don't die in this Tournament, then they'd get to live forever, or whatever.

"OK. You made your point. I give. Doesn't mean that I have to fight in it. Between fighting in your Tournament, wherever it is, and fighting my own battles at home I wouldn't exactly get that much of a rest, and besides, I don't fight alone. I have my Scooby's to back me up." Buffy conceded.

At this, Samuel arched one eyebrow. "Actually you're wrong, at least on one point. _You_ do have to fight. Well, not necessarily _you_, but a Slayer does have to fight in the Tournament. If you outright refuse, we will not force you, but your refusal means that another Slayer must be chosen. You are the first we've approached, so we find it highly unlikely that you will refuse."

"Are you threatening me?" Buffy asked angrily. "You're saying that if I don't say yes, you'll just ask the next Slayer that comes along? I take it that your last Slayer finally kicked the bucket huh? Is that all you need, a Slayer? Well why not go back in time and get the first one, I'm sure she would appreciate living forever a lot more than I want to fight for you."

"No, Buffy, you misunderstand," Samantha interrupted, and suddenly Buffy found herself standing in front of the blonde girl once more.

"We do not want a mere _Slayer_, we want you, and if you refuse, we would go to another universe and ask that Buffy. We would keep asking until one of you said yes. But you are the first that we have asked, and in doing so, we have arranged your entire destiny on you entering the Tournament. There will be many enemies; creatures, demons, humans, and evil entities coming that are too strong for you as you are. If you enter the Tournament, not only will we make you immortal, but also we would give you the possibility of reaching your true power, something you will need in the years to come. Only by reaching your full potential could you ever hope to defeat what will be coming. And we would not even think of asking you to do this alone."

"What do you mean?" Buffy asked.

Samuel answered. BAM! She was right back in front of Samuel again.

"You would be the primary representative of your Team, and your Team will be, as you put it, your Scooby's. They will also fight in the Tournament, and will also be given immortality, and the possibility of reaching their true powers. A Team, in the Tournament, may consist of two or more beings, such as the four of you. That is why we waited for this night, a night when all four of you would be together, and in a place where you were not hidden away, if not by the Hellmouth, then by your respective dwellings. Understand, you must all agree to this, we will force no one. If even one of you has the smallest doubt, we will wipe this from your minds and ask another."

Everyone was quiet after that. Buffy looked back at her friends, still huddled together in the middle of the clearing, or wherever they were, but she did not move to go to them. Thinking everything over, Buffy came to a decision. "Can we talk it over?" she asked quietly of the boy in front of her. He nodded, and she suddenly found herself facing her three friends. Looking around, she saw that all of the robed figures had left, but the structure and surrounding misty blackness remained.

"What do you guys think?" Buffy asked. She looked at each in turn. Willow, on her right was showing concern for her friend, but also seemed to trust the creatures that had brought them here. She was for it.

Giles, in front of her, had the funniest look she had ever seen on his face. Utter confusion. Though this was not the time to laugh. If she knew anything about her Watcher in the time that she'd known him, he wanted to consult his books, maybe contact a few resources, and basically research the entire tale just told to them. Then he'd offer his educated opinion and say that it was Buffy's choice.

Xander was more of an enigma to Buffy. He looked both excited and scared. Yet, judging from a look, she'd guess that his first instinct would be to say no. He was always the cautious one, at least when it came to trusting non-humans. Taking everything she knew about him into account, as well as the possibility that he heard the comment about how they all would also find their true powers, she suspected that Xander would, in the end support her decision, though he would complain and make plenty of sarcastic remarks about it afterwards.

As for her own feelings, Buffy wanted more and more to say yes. The concept of immortality for her, when her life expectancy was less than 21, was mind-boggling. She could actually live long enough to be with Angel. She could live. Then they had spoken of how they had already altered her destiny. Whatever her true power was that they promised her, she would need it to fight whatever uglies would be coming her way. And they would come for her, whether she entered the Tournament or not. If she didn't, then that would mean that she might not be able to protect her friends and family. She wouldn't…couldn't save them. If anything happened to any one of her friends; Giles, Xander, her mother…Willow, she wouldn't be able to stand it. She'd say yes, especially if it meant protecting her family.

It wouldn't be that bad really, at least the others would be with her, and they could protect each other. Taking everything into account, Buffy knew beyond doubt that her answer was yes. But first, she had to hear what the others would say about it all.

After the moments of uncomfortable silence, Buffy asked again, "So, what do you guys think? Unless all of us say yes, I'm going to say no. This is all or none."

"Well, that is certainly a change of tactics…" Giles muttered under his breath, but the rest could hear him just fine. Buffy and Xander knew exactly what he was referring to. Willow didn't.

"What do you mean Giles?" Willow asked.

Giles looked uncomfortable for a minute or so, unable to look at Willow, embarrassed by his selfish and rude comment. Fortunate for him, Buffy answered for him. "He means, Will, when I knocked him cold just before I went off to face the Master. Giles didn't like the prophesy about me dying any more than I did, so he was going to go and face the Master himself." Buffy paused long enough to look at Willow, and then look Giles in the eye. " I couldn't let him, though. As much as I was afraid of dying before I had even lived, I…I was more afraid of losing him. Besides, it was the whole destiny, 'it is written' stuff, so I figured it had to be me, or it would be everybody. Turns out, it was nobody. Thanks to Xander, and Angel, I didn't die, I kicked vamp butt, and here we stand today. In front of two higher beings, offering us training that we'll, or at least I'll need, in order to even begin to handle some of the things that will be heading our way. Of course, we'll also have to participate in a street fight tournament that goes to the death, but as long as we live, we still have each other to live for."

Giles stared back at Buffy, his surrogate daughter of the year and a half that he'd known her. If she only knew the truth about me… he thought to himself. She would never forgive me. But could I forgive myself if I let her pass up an opportunity that will not only save us, but save her as well? He asked. No. No was the only answer to that question. The only answer.

Giles nodded his head nearly imperceptibly. Buffy looked at Xander. He was the only other one who she could possibly imagine having complaints about this. Xander was actually looking at Willow, who was looking back at him, with an unreadable expression on her face. "Xander? What do you have to say?" Buffy asked.

Xander glanced at the blonde, and then shifted his gaze back to the redhead. Then he said in a clear and confident voice, " I'm with whatever you and Willow decide. But just so you'll know, I'm hoping you say yes, because if we all get training, then I get to be super strong too, right? Then I'll be able to kick demon ass just like you and Angel. Maybe even better than Angel."

Buffy smiled and shook her head in wry amusement. Then she turned to Willow. She swore she knew almost exactly what the young wicca was thinking. She was scared, but she was excited by the prospect of meeting and learning from higher plane beings. Yet again, she knew that Willow would choose the same choice Buffy would, and she would never leave Buffy alone. Not with a choice like this, no she would choose…

"No." Willow answered in an unmistakable voice. Buffy blinked, Xander did a double take, and Giles took off his glasses, squinted at Willow, and put them back on. "Excuse me?" Buffy and Xander said as one. "No." Willow repeated. "No I don't think we should do it. Or more to the point, I shouldn't do it. If you guys want to go ahead, go right ahead. I'll stay here in…back in Sunnydale until you get back. Me and Angel can handle patrol for a few nights."

"Will, I would never ask you to do that. And I meant what I said. This is all or none. If you don't want to go, then we won't go. Besides, I'm not about to leave my best friend alone with my boyfriend on long moonlit walks through graveyards. You might try to steal him away." Buffy said jokingly. Yet her smile was short lived, as she asked the redhead witch one last time, "Are you sure about this Willow?"

"Buffy," Willow sighed and shook her head, "This . . . this is just too much for me. I mean, I'm a nobody, I'm a computer geek that has only learned a couple of basic spells from an amateur witch in our class at High School. You're the Slayer. This is all for you! I . . . I just can't do this, I'm sorry, but you, you have to do this Buffy!"

Buffy looked at her best friend for a moment, before she sighed as she turned around to face the robed figures, which had appeared the moment she did so.

"I'm sorry. My answer is no. Go to the next Buffy, or Slayer, or whatever, but my answer is no," she said to the two small robed children, which were surprisingly the only figures there, and were standing in front of the three thrones.

"As you wish, Slayer. Your minds will be erased of this event and you and your friends will be placed where they were before we arrived in your universe, and all shall continue as destined." Samuel stated. He sounded like a robot pronouncing sentence.

"WAIT!" Willow screamed suddenly.

"Yes Willow?" Samantha said calmly.

"That's it?! That's just it?! I say no, Buffy says no, and you just leave us with whatever you set up to come after us?!" Willow screeched.

"No Willow. We did not set anything up," Samuel answered. "This Buffy was destined to be different from the others. She was destined to be in the Tournament, and through fighting and surviving in it, would become far stronger than all the others. By that destiny, she could not evenly fight the enemies that other Slayers had fought. The tip of power to her side would have to be balanced out. Stronger enemies, more evils to stop, some developed because of this, others that were there all along and this was the only way she could stop them. It is a very complicated matter, Willow, one that has many sides and far many more variables."

Willow looked torn for a moment. Then she grabbed Buffy by the arm and stared her in the eye. "Buffy? What do you want to do?" Willow asked.

Buffy smiled, eyes never leaving her friend's, "I want to protect my family. Yes Willow, I want to do it. But not if you have so much as a single doubt about it."

Willow smiled at her best friend. She hugged her, relishing the contact, perhaps a bit more than she should have, but still. Then a confused look, that Buffy knew so well, crossed the wicca/hacker's face. "What is it Will?"

Willow turned to the blond haired twins. "What do you mean, 'have the possibility of reaching our true powers'?" she asked. The twins smiled as one at her innocent question.

"Say yes, and you'll find out." Samantha answered cryptically. Samuel elaborated. "Your greatest strengths will be multiplied, your weakest strengths will be enhanced, and your weaknesses will be overcome. We will send you to a dimension that was set aside by members of 'Good' that wished to better their chances in the Tournament. There you will be trained and taught about fighting and about your power, and what it means to have such. For 6 weeks."

"6 weeks!" They all shouted.

"Well, 6 weeks to you. But to your world it would be no more than 3 days." Samantha elaborated further. "We would return you, upon completion of your training, to the exact spot that you were taken from exactly 71 hours after you left. Yet, since you are immortal, or will be immortal, such time will no longer matter as much. If you are worried about loved ones missing you, or your responsibilities being neglected, if you wished, we would allow it so that excuses could be made, and others would help or "take care of" said responsibilities."

"What kind of help?" Buffy asked.

"I believe you mentioned a person called Angel?" Samuel answered, "We would subconsciously trigger worry in his mind, causing him to go out looking for all of you, and therefore his worry would permit him to take actions against the vampire community, and therefore "patrol" is taken care of. Also we can send anonymous notes to your school and parents if you wish."

Buffy's eyes lit up at the last one. She turned back to Willow, "Well, Will? Anymore doubts or reasons to say no?"

Willow stared straight-faced at the twin pair of powers before them, then shrugged, and broke out in her biggest grin as she faced the blond Slayer. "No," she replied almost giddily.

"Well, that's three for go Giles. What's your vote?" Buffy stated, turning to her watcher.

"Like you really have to ask. Of course yes!" the old Brit announced angrily.

"Well, then I guess you have your answer, Sam…" Buffy trailed off as they all realized that they were no longer in the dark foggy clearing in front of a columned dais. They were now in a stainless steel cubed room, with lights emitting from the edges of the ceiling and floor. At a quick glance around the room, Buffy noticed the possible outline of a door on one wall, but there was no way to be for certain until it opened, and there were no handles or hinges on this side of it, if it was a door.

There appeared to be no other way out of the room, and noticing the other's looks of panic, they were realizing the same thing. However, despite the floors and walls being seamless, didn't mean that the room was empty. For one it had them in it, and another, there was a couch and four comfortable looking chairs scattered about the room. Despite them being in a random order, they all seemed to face the center of the room, which really wasn't all that great, just stainless steel floor and stainless steel ceiling.

"I guess we wait then," said Buffy as she took to the couch. It was really comfortable.

Suddenly, there was a loud hiss that lasted but a microsecond. All eyes turned towards the source, where the place that Buffy had assumed was a door had seemingly disappeared, and a tall imposing youthful man stood just inside the room. "Well, I guess you don't have to wait that long then, huh?" he said in a voice full of sarcasm.

Buffy immediately jumped to her feet and went to the front of the room, placing herself between this man and her friends. "Who are you, what do you want?" she barked out. She took but a moment to look this guy over.

He was tall, maybe 6'9", 6'11". He was built. Even beneath his loose leather jacket and billowy black pants, she could see this guy had muscles on muscles. He also wore a sword just over his right shoulder; she could see the foot long hilt. He had long, wild, solid black hair that seemed to go every way but down, except for his bangs which just brushed his forehead. He had black, with hints of brown and green, eyes, and he had a strong streamlined jaw. Something else that struck her as funny was that he had a brown fur belt around his waist.

"My name is Goku. And I am your Trainer for your stay here at the Compound. What I want is for you to win long enough to actually have a life outside of this gods-forsaken place. In order to do that, you have to be stronger than me, and every other fighter here. That's the only way that you'll win at the Tournament, and the only thing that'll get me off your backs for the next six weeks," he answered her questions. Then he did something truly terrifying, he smirked.

Buffy suddenly felt like she had signed them all up for boot camp in the hell's army, and began to wish that she had said no. The smirk that "Goku" had just given them was one that she gave to vampires that were too cocky for their own good, and that she could beat blindfolded and tied down. Oh yeah they were in for some deep…

"Shit you're easy!" Goku started laughing at them and their expressions.


	2. The Training

**The Training:**

"OK, enough lolly gagging around. Let's get a move on!" Goku shouted at them after he'd managed to stop laughing and stepped back from the door and pointed them through it. Squinting her eyes in mistrust, Buffy silently walked through, followed closely by the others.

When they were outside the chamber, Buffy, Willow, Xander and Giles immediately noticed the sheer size of the place they had been taken to. They appeared to be on a platform, who knew how high up, that various people and species in general were walking across, sort of like in the movie Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back, in the Cloud City scenes.

Well, they were definitely in a city. All around them and their platform were massive buildings, skyscrapers, and other connecting platforms, some of which connected to the skyscrapers and buildings, and others that just connected to other platforms. And littered throughout the sky were numerous aircraft, ranging from slow moving giant box crates, to fast moving tubes and people sized craft.

"Holy schnikes!" Xander exclaimed as they all tried to take it in.

Goku looked around. He'd had a similar reaction when he had first arrived here. But now, after nearly thirty years, it kind of wore off. Especially since he spent most of his time on the inside of these buildings and structures. He never had time to enjoy the scenery anymore. Oh, well. That was why he took to training new recruits. Better than doing what all the rest of this place was doing most of the time.

But whatever. These kids were here for a reason, and he was here to teach them that reason, and in as little time as possible. There was no time for "smelling the roses" as the saying went.

"Hey!" he shouted at them, "Let's GO!" when he had their attention.

"What's your rush?" Buffy complained, as they picked up the pace.

The man introduced only as "Goku" merely raised an eyebrow and led them on. His quick pace forced even Buffy to jog in order to keep up with him. She tried several more times to get him to speak to her, or at least explain what was going on, yet he remained as silent as Angel in a broody moment. Soon they came to…a portal was the only way to describe it. It was about two meters tall and in general circumference really, since it was a giant black circle painted on the wall of the building they were next to. Goku made a slight motion with his hands, indicating that they should wait there, Xander, Willow and Giles didn't really have a problem with that idea, due to the fact that as soon as they stopped, they bent over, clutching their sides, out of breath.

Buffy couldn't blame them, they weren't used to the long haul at such a quick pace, and even she was pretty winded by what seemed to be a full kilometer run from the room they had arrived in to wherever it was they were right now. There was also something funky about the air and the gravity in general. It was heavier than usual and the air was humid and hot. Geez, hadn't these people ever heard of air conditioning?

Whatever it was that Goku was doing, he had apparently finished as he walked back to the group of tired humans. When Buffy turned to greet him, she was surprised to see the black circle on the side of the building was now a hole into a somewhat large room.

"If you don't mind, just jump through and we can get you settled in." Goku was saying, indicating the portal.

"Hold on just a minute! What the hell is going on here? Who are you? And what is this, this place! Gawd, what _is this_ place?" Buffy was asking in total disbelief.

Goku only looked at her with something like pity, only more insulting. "I'll take it that you almost said no. Figures. Don't worry girl, you'll get your answers soon enough. Just jump through and we'll get you settled into your room," was all he said.

"No, I don't think so! I want some answers, and I want them now! We aren't going anywhere until you, or somebody answers them. Now either you start talking, or I might get angry, and trust me spiky, you don't want to see me angry," Buffy said in her "Slayer" voice.

Now the stranger, Goku, looked confused and slightly, no make that majorly annoyed as he considered what the blonde human had just said to him. "Spiky?" he asked incredulously. Then he rolled his eyes up, remembering his hair. "Oh. Well whatever girl. Just jump through, We're short enough on time as it is, and if you want the whole tour or the two cent one that'll leave you high and dry, it's your choice. But if you keep wasting time, you won't have that for much longer. Now jump through." Goku ordered.

"That does it!" Buffy yelled as she launched herself at the taller, visibly stronger, and strangely calm man. She landed solidly with her foot against his chin. She was actually surprised that she had managed to complete the flying kick. So far in training with Giles she had only managed to do it twice, and even then both were far from perfect. It made little difference as she barely made the guy move his head, before the stronger gravity took over and she barely managed to get her hands underneath her in time to do a flying backwards handspring.

Once she landed nimbly on her feet, she launched herself at him again, staying on the ground mostly though, and hitting him with her best kicks and punches she could throw at him. He only raised his right eyebrow in a similar fashion to a wrestler she had seen once on WWF. Finally, Goku's patience wore out and he picked up the small blonde by the arm she threw a punch at him with, and physically threw her through the portal.

"Buffy!!" the other three humans shouted, and all three ran surprisingly quickly and jumped through the portal, almost as one.

"Well, geez, if that's all it took…" Goku muttered as he levitated himself and flew through the circle, which faded back to black as soon as he was through.

As the last individual came through the red circle on the wall, it de-energized and was just a big red spot on the wall, with a flat black square next to it on the left. The four humans, including the blonde girl he had thrown through, were piled on the floor right in front of him. Fortunately he was flying, so there was no issue of being crowded. For him at least.

"Ahem!" he coughed loudly, making them aware of his presence.

Slowly they sorted themselves out and untangled from each other and stood. After this, Goku landed right behind the blonde girl that had attacked him. He liked her. She was no doubt the reason as to why the Powers had sent them here in the first place. She was also head strong and thought she was strong enough to take anybody out, or at least make them regret they fought with her. Whew boy, was she in for a shock, he thought.

"Ahem," he said again, though much quieter. The girl jumped, then turned around and threw a powerful punch and kick combo at him. He easily, almost too easily, dodged the kick and grabbed her fist. He squeezed _very_ lightly, enough to make her know he was strong, but not squeezing enough to break her fist. Yet.

"All right, (_grunt_), who, (_grunt_), are you?" she asked, trying to remove her fist from his.

"I told you. My name is Goku. I'm your Trainer for the next six weeks. I take it that you are…" he paused as he pulled a small devise from his jacket pocket, that opened into a long flat panel, which he apparently read some information from. "…Buffy Summers, the Vampire Slayer of the year 1997 AD in Sunnydale, California, of Dimension 2ZXEC-A.U.237-4561-659.1 in Universe of Quantum Grid 2, 35. The rest of these weaklings must be your Team. I think I have my work cut out for me," Goku sited, maintaining his grip on her hand with the other.

"Uh, would you mind letting go of me, _Goku?_" she asked strenuously.

"OK," he said rather cheerily, releasing her hand. "And by the way," he added, dead serious, "don't ever call me _spiky_ again, got it?"

She only nodded, her eyes squinted in distrust. Absentmindedly, she was stroking her fist, but not out of discomfort or pain, but of imaginative uses for wiping that smug grin off her "Trainer's" face.

"OK, Goku, what's the deal? Ten minutes ago, I'm watching some blue alien thing tear a huge vampire in half, then the Powers That Be, no less, show up and shout out about some story about two kids that apparently control all of existence. Then they "invite" me into this little Tournament of their's, which excuse me if I'm right, but sounds a lot like a rich man's street fight. Then they blackmail me, saying that I was destined to say yes, and that if I don't I might not be able to handle the stronger demons that I'll have to fight. Then, as soon as I turn around to say yes, we're in an empty room and thirty seconds later you show up and throw me through a hole in the wall! Now all I want is some answers, I'm sure you can handle that, right?" Buffy turned the question into an insult by adding, "For one as bright as you seem to be anyway."

Goku's grin lost its pleasantness and he decided to play along with the girl, despite his sudden urge to demonstrate her Powers-given immortality earlier than usual. He scrolled down the list on his Global, and read up on the others. Their power levels had already been tested and confirmed as soon as they arrived. Their code-names had already been assigned, as had their skill brackets, their schedule, and their conditioning workout. Yeesh, he didn't have it that tough when he'd gotten here. Apparently this girl had a lot of potential, and the Council wanted to bring it out, as soon as possible. That meant half killing the girl and her friends. He felt slightly sorry for the blonde Slayer, Buffy. _Very_ slightly.

"OK, what do you want to know?" Goku asked, as he stepped back from Buffy and slowly walked to the other side of the room, letting them realize, as their eyes followed him, where they were. It was a fairly large room, maybe twenty meters high, and domed. There were beams, steel-colored but in such a crazy place nobody could say that it was actually steel, going from the floor, up the walls to the center point of the dome, which was domed spot lamp. And on the walls was a faded white padding, going from the floor to halfway up the walls themselves. In between each of the steel-colored beams, were a number of doors, and then the red spot they had just come through. There were maybe six doors altogether and they all looked like the doors from Star Trek: The Next Generation, except a metallic-blue instead of beige. Then there was the room itself.

It was about the floor size of the school gym, and included a bar off to one side that they took to be a kitchenette or something similar. In the middle of the room, underneath the spotlight at the apex of the dome, was a plush carpeted area with furniture similar to what they saw in the room they had arrived in. A comfortable looking black leather, or similar material, couch; six chairs, two recliner-like, and the rest just for sitting on, and next to the carpeted area was a large circular table that was gray and looked like it was made of plastic, but later when Buffy touched it, it felt like porcelain. There was also a workout area set aside and other things that might have been decorations if not for what they had already seen told them otherwise.

"OK, first question:" Buffy announced, "Where are we? All that the Powers said was that we would be training for the next six weeks in some place that the forces of Good had set aside to help them in the Tournament. How much of that is true?"

Goku grimaced a little and decided then and there to never tell her, unless directly asked, about his suspicions of corruption within the Compound. "That's the basic story of it. It's called the '_Compound_'. And it is actually its own universe that said "Forces of Good" asked the Powers to make for them. These Forces of Good are called the 'Council'. They're inter-dimensional beings, meaning that they come from several different realities and have a lot of power, but nowhere near the levels of the Powers. Or for that matter, they don't even half half the power of some of the Fighters that are here already." Goku shook his head to clear his confusion and continued his explanation.

"This Council then selected the greatest warriors of light, and the most powerful, of several separate realities, brought them here, told them the story that the Powers no doubt already told you, and asked them to not only fight in the Tournament, but to train all the new recruits that would be coming in. By this dimension's standards, that was over 200,000,000 years ago. Since then, a pretty good curriculum has been set up, and we haven't lost a Tournament for nearly three hundred years. Of course the only sure fire way to win the Tournament is to either have one team beat everything Evil throws at them, or . . . to, uh, not let so much as one of our Fighters die. _That_, unfortunately, hasn't happened for over 1500 years." Goku told them, scratching the back of his neck while not meeting their eyes.

They all looked at each other and exchanged the various 'What have we gotten ourselves into?' looks, then Buffy turned back to Goku. "Uh, which hasn't happened for 1500 years?"

Goku shrugged. "The last time Good won by having none of their Fighters die was over 1500 years ago. Can't be helped sometimes. Some Fighters get careless, others are just plain outmatched, but in the end it only really counts for the Final Match. That's the one that decides everything. Besides, the numbers of Fighters that lose in the Tournament have been going down in recent years."

Gulping silently, Buffy asked, "OK, second question: What's your story in all of this? Were you one of these original fighters slash trainers?"

Goku snorted, shaking his head no. "No, I was like you, a recruit from my own universe. But in my universe, I at least had a history and partial training in the fighting and martial arts that are taught here. Before I was brought here, I was a pretty good fighter. For the past twenty-five years, I've been the best. Now, I teach the new guys. It gets me some time off, and away from home longer than a night or two every three months."

"OK, hold on." Buffy interrupted. "First, you've been here for 25 years?!!"

"No, thirty actually. It took me almost five years to develop enough of a reputation, and my body to deserve it. Since then, almost every Tournament I've entered I've won. Meaning that I survived and came out alive of the Final Round. Well, except for my first few Tournaments, those I didn't do too well in. And I didn't even make it to the Final Round until my fifth year here. That roughly translates to 20 tournaments that I got my ass kicked around the ring so bad that even "Evil" had to take pity and let me live each time."

Buffy was confused for a moment, then thought of another question. "How does that work? I mean, the whole Tournaments thing? When are they held, like every other week or so? And twenty tournaments in five years? For all of Evil and Good to fight and kill each other? How long do these Tournaments last anyway?"

"Whoa there! Slow down." Goku interrupted her. "OK, the Tournaments? Well, the actual Tournament is held about every three months or so, and you can base it on your own home universe's sense of time, even if it may be different for everybody else. But that's just the actual Tournament of Good vs. Evil. There are also something like preliminary Tournaments held here in the Compound between all the Fighters here. Here, its non-lethal and you're out when you're K.O.'d. But those preliminaries are designed to say who actually gets to go to the big Tournament. Some, like me, who've won more Tournaments than I care to remember, has an automatic go. Others, newbies like yourselves, have to work it for the first few years. The preliminaries are held about halfway between the real Tournaments. Usually about a month and a half or so, depending if it's a leap year or not."

"As for how long the Tournament is, it usually lasts about two days here for us. For your own universe, its about one night. The preliminaries last about five days here, but again, only a night in your universe. So, what do you think so far? We haven't even seen where we'll be spending most of our time." Goku then spun around, showing the room off.

"These are actually your quarters for your stay here. Despite all the obvious preparation for your arrival, these were the only quarters that were available, and they were made for at least six people. Don't worry though. Oh, and the bedrooms are through the respective doors. If you want, you can program to lock with your DNA, or voice pattern, or just set them on low motion, otherwise the air will be opening and closing them for you." Goku explained.

"Wait a minute. What do you mean, "despite all the obvious preparation for our arrival"? You've been expecting us?" Buffy asked, slightly taken aback by the news.

"Well, yes. The Powers don't just drop people off in those comfortable waiting rooms and expect us to handle everything about them instantly. They tell us of possible new arrivals. One doesn't show up, we know they said no. As you can see, a schedule and special curriculum have been set up just for you." Goku explained, handing the Global to the nearest person, Willow, who took it, a fascinated look on her face, and read it. She then passed it on to Buffy, who, after reading it, paled dangerously close to "vampire" skin. Goku casually noticed that the screen was currently on her own workout schedule.

Buffy, feeling more than a little overwhelmed handed the modified palm pilot, or whatever the hell it was, over to Giles, who worked some of the touch pad commands and read his own schedule. He coughed slightly, and handed it to Xander, then removed his glasses, rubbed his nose, and _put the glasses in his pocket_. Buffy had never seen him do that before.

Xander, not one hundred percent understanding what he was seeing, glanced at the gray device and handed it back to Willow, whom then returned it to Goku.

"You aren't actually going to get us started on…on, on that-that…_that_," indicating the Global, "are you? Today I mean." Buffy seemed really nervous about it for whatever reason.

"No, today is purely meant to get you settled in here. Tomorrow is when we start the schedule. Also it's the middle of the afternoon here already, so there wouldn't be much point. And in case you were wondering, tomorrow, for most people around here, starts as soon as the previous day ends. So, what do you want first; the tour, or some demonstrations of what you'll be learning here?" Goku asked.

Buffy was about to answer, when Willow beat her to the punch, "I think the tour would be a good idea, don't you Buffy? I mean, we have six weeks to learn and see demonstrations of what we'll be learning, but this is probably our only chance to actually see this place. And it's plenty big enough without the tour, ya know?"

Buffy nodded her head, conceding and understanding what Willow was saying. "I guess it's the tour then. Where do we start? How about the bathrooms?"

Goku smiled, getting the hint. He glanced at his Global, and pointed at a door to his right. It was blue like all the others, and had a black keypad, like all the others, but stenciled in gold was the English word "SLAYER" right above the keypad. "Right through that door, on your left through the second door. It's more like a glass panel that goes into the sides of the wall when you approach," he told her.

Immediately she made way for the door indicated, and surprisingly Xander followed her. "Uh…Xander?" Goku said, checking through his "files". His codename was Warrior: X. Goku knew why. For any Fighter that didn't already have a codename, a title, even just a nickname, they were given the codename Warrior, followed by a letter or number that was chronologically assigned. They eventually were given a proper codename, and so the numeral or whatever was retired until the next nameless Fighter came in. Xander here was given X. Funny how that shortening of his name from Alexander to Xander made that work for him.

Xander turned to look at his Trainer. _His_ Trainer. He liked that thought. Goku then pointed at a door opposite the one Buffy was heading to. It was blue, but as he moved closer to it, he could see the red stencils, "WARRIOR **X**". He turned back to Goku. "Warrior X?" he asked, obviously confused.

Even Buffy stopped to look at the dark-haired man at that one. Goku looked kind of sheepish for a minute or so, then explained, "Well, rather than get confused with long and often confusing names in each creatures' language, we decided that code-names would be assigned that just about everyone can pronounce. Don't worry about a language problem though. You've got an appointment in the Clinic in about three hours, and you'll be implanted with translating devices that will allow you to decipher all forms of all communication, no matter the planet or universe."

Xander just stared at him, and then repeated, "Warrior X?"

Goku just shrugged, and decided to tell him later about how the naming system went. Buffy and Xander decided they couldn't wait much longer and went inside their respective rooms. "What am I called?" Willow asked, she seemed the most at ease with this situation. Goku looked at her and smiled a friendly grin at her. She smiled back, and Goku wondered if he should tell them he had a girlfriend back home.

"Witch. For now anyway," he answered.

"For now?" she asked, a questioning look replacing the smile as she stepped closer to him. Goku moved closer as well, and then took a seat in one of the recliners, which instantaneously conformed to his body.

"Well, for right now, that's your level of spell casting, as I understand it. I'm more of the Ki-Warrior-Fighter type, not really into magic and so forth. But since you started using magic, what, how long ago now? Two years, three?"

"Well, uh actually I started about four months ago. Just after the end of school. I got Amy to help me get started, and she showed me all the basics. Then Giles gave me a book of spells and rituals that helped me out big time, and I learned a whole lot. Like, for example, I just did a spell just tonight, or was it last night…maybe it was tonight but more like thirty minutes ago. Anyway, I did this really cool fireball spell that got rid of two vampires for the price of one. I nearly fainted after the spell, though, it's exhausting using that kind of magic when you're not used to it. But I didn't faint and Buffy was there to catch me. She's always doing that, you know, catching me when I'm about to fall, or get attacked by some incubus demon. Not that I've ever been attacked by an incubus demon, cause those are like sex demons that rape every woman they see, and no, I have never met an incubus demon. Obvious because I'm still a…you know…and I plan on staying that way for a long time too, not until I'm married. Though I really don't plan on getting married, at least not too soon. I don't even have a boyfriend and you kind of have to have a boyfriend before you can have a husband, or get married at all really. So what's your story? You said earlier that you liked being away from home. Was that true? I think that you would like your home more than here. At least at home, well, if you're like Buffy, maybe not, but at least some of the time not everybody is trying to kill you and destroy the world or learning how to do it anyway. So why…?"

"Do you want the answer or not?" Goku asked, stopping her before she got a second head of steam. During her babbling, Buffy and Xander had returned and caught the little witch babbling. They smiled, and just listened to her until Goku stopped her.

Willow looked much embarrassed at being caught babbling by the man that was supposed to teach them how to fight. "Sorry," she muttered softly.

"Don't apologize. It's kind of cute actually, but if you actually want the answer to any of your questions, you need to know when _not_ to be talking. Anyway, back to the first question, your codename may change if your power as a spell caster grows. And the fact that you've been practicing witchcraft for _four months_ and can already throw fireball spells says a lot about your potential. The highest spell caster title is _Arch Mage_, and there are only four here that hold that position. You'll actually be tutored under one of them. If you're as powerful as you've shown to be, by the end of this first week, you may be _Sage_, or even _Magician_. But by the time that you leave the Compound, your code-names are stuck, so if you want to be better than Witch, you have to do _very_ good. I think the highest, yet most common magic codename given out currently is _Power Mage_, aside from the four Arch Mages of course. The only thing more than Power Mage but less than Arch-Mage is to be considered a Master of the primary arts that you've studied. Then you'll be called the general name of that art. For example, which branch of magic are you studying now? Alchemy, Sorcery, black arts? What?"

"Um, I think Amy called it _Wicca_." Willow answered kind of quietly.

Goku's eyes shot up like rockets. "_Wicca_?" he asked in a surprised voice.

"Um, yeah, I think so. Yes, I'm studying Wicca. Why?" Willow asked, confused by his response.

"Oh, it's just that, from what I understand of these things, Wicca is the study of all of nature and how to either manipulate it, control it, or be one with it. It also deals strongly in supernatural energies. I don't think that there's been a _Wiccan_ for over a few millennia here. The last one trained one of the Arch Mage's and even she isn't considered to be a Master over it. If you want to reach that level Willow, you've got a lot of work to do." Goku informed her.

"Oh. Wow," was the only response the little witch had to give.

"OK, so uh, what's the big deal about Wicca? It's just magic, right?" Xander pointed out.

"The deal, as I understand it, is that _Wicca_ is a study of power where you are equalized with all elements, arts, studies, and powers in the universe, or in our case, multi-verse. The title of _Wiccan_ means that the person has complete mastery over the study of Wicca, as well as more than fair competency in all other mystical arts. Basically, if there would ever be a Wiccan again, he or she would have the complete understanding and knowledge of just about everything magical and might even be able to control all magic if they were strong enough. Only the combined might of the four Arch Mages would be able to beat such a person if they actually let loose with their power. Unfortunately, Evil just happens to have such creatures of power in the Tournament. At least this year I'm sure they will."

At this information, everyone got kinda quiet, trying to absorb and understand this new information. Then Buffy decided to get them back on track. "So, uh you were saying something about a tour. How about we get started, unless anybody else has to take care of any "business" before we get going?" She looked at each in turn, and Willow and Giles only shook their heads.

Nodding, Goku stood up and directed them to the red spot on the wall. "This is a Matter Transfer Conveyor Portal, or MTC for short. The one that we went through is actually on the outside of the building that we're currently in. These smaller ones can still take you just about anywhere inside the Compound. To activate them, just put your palm on the black panel next to them, wait for it to recognize you, and then state aloud and in a clear voice your destination. Main Gym, Main Floor, New Trainees Tour Section," he said, demonstrating as he spoke.

The red spot on the wall suddenly began to glow, like a really big stoplight. Then, Goku added, "Five. You also have to tell it the number of passengers so that it won't close as soon as the first person goes through. Why don't you guys go first and I'll be right behind you? Just so you can trust me…" he then stuck his arm through the glowing red spot, then pulled it back out, as though he'd just put it through an open doorway.

Buffy just shrugged and stepped through, quickly followed by Willow, Xander, and Giles. Goku was mildly surprised that the others seemed to blindly follow Buffy, no matter what. Good thing that he was the only Fighter on his world, from Good or Evil. He doubted that he could've handled the kind of responsibility to look out for a Team. But he was only fifty or so years old, even if he still looked twenty. He had a lot of time left. Maybe one day, he'd know what it was like. He hoped one day that he would, but at the same time, feared it. He stepped through.

Once on the other side, Goku found them once again in front of the portal, but at least they were standing this time. They were staring through the two story high clear For-lass. For-lass being short for Force-Field-Enhanced-Stainless-Plastic-like-Glass. Behind the For-lass was the Main Gym, where most of the Fighters spent their time training, working out, or in a few cases just hanging out.

Buffy was in shock, and she wasn't the only one. The sight before them was beyond their comprehension. A huge, no make that _**ENORMOUS**_ room stood beyond what looked like a clear barrier of some kind. There were what must have been hundreds of creatures from all over the cosmos in there. Only about a hundred or so were human, at least it looked that way to the new recruits at first. Then they saw this one man fly straight up and shooting beams and blasts of energy at somebody else on the floor, who almost easily dodged or blocked every one of them. There were also things being done on the other side that boggled the mind and could never be described accurately in spoken language.

"Whoa," Buffy said deadpan. Giles repeated her in, "Oh my," and Xander, "Cool!" Everyone half turned to stare at the dark-haired youth, but he was too caught up in the sight.

"This," Goku stepping forward, pointing at the view, "is the Main Gym. It's where we'll be spending a good portion of your training. But actually that is just the central section and primary floor of the Main Gym. We'll be spending the majority of your training in a more closed-off room. Just us and our fists. Right around the corner there, " he pointed to the left, "is the Inventory Shop. There's one on just about every floor of every building in the Compound, except of course for living quarters. It's where we'll get your gear. Come on."

He led the way around the corner, and they found themselves suddenly in front of a hole in the wall sports gear shop. At least, that's what they all took it to be at first. Then they saw the octopus alien creature in the middle of it. It was purple.

"Hey Ralph!" Goku said in greeting as they came up to the store. "Where's Barf? I figured it was his duty shift today."

The purple octopus alien thing burbled something back and made slightly agitated movements with its tentacles, but Goku seemed to understand it as though that were a response of some kind. He nodded and said in a sympathetic voice, "Well, I'm sorry to hear that. I hope he gets feeling better. I'm sure that you do to." The last sentence had a touch of sarcasm to it, Buffy could tell.

"Ahem" she coughed, getting her Trainer's attention. He lost the impish grin he'd been wearing and straightened a bit more.

"Anyway, we need the usual requisitions. Four model five's; seven model seven's with maybe two or three backup ready. A, well, uh how about a modified number four model five. We'll need only about three of them. And for the last, make it three model six's with T's instead of Tanks. And of course, two make seven's. Oh, and they might need your number in case there's anything that they'll need in the future." Goku listed out.

The creature made some more bubbly noises and its tentacles were suddenly scrambling around, apparently getting everything that Goku had just asked for. When the creature stopped "talking" Goku grinned again and tried unsuccessfully to suppress a chuckle. A moment later, there were about seven wrapped packages and bags on the counter. Goku grabbed them all and thanked the octopus.

"What was that all about?" Buffy asked as she was handed one box and a wrapped clear bag that had something like black clothing inside. They turned from the shop and began to walk back to the MTC.

"Oh darn it! I forgot the make seven's. Hang on, I'll be right back." Goku exclaimed, finished handing out his packages and ran back to the shop. Three seconds later, Goku was back, holding a box that he handed to Giles, and two swords in sheaths. One, with a gold trimmed hilt he handed to Buffy. The other, with a red trimmed hilt he handed to Xander.

"These are ours?" Buffy exclaimed as she took the sword. "I didn't think that a street fight allowed weapons."

"Well, this isn't a street fight, as you'll eventually find out. But there are just as _few_ rules. In the Tournament, you use whatever you've got, short of a mass destruction weapon. Those are pretty much the only _weapons_ not allowed, but it won't matter since that entails only two things ever known or found. A black hole, and a fission cannon, large scale. Swords, guns, blasters, shields, some even use tanks and starships. It's all fair. Meaning that there is no _unfair_, so don't expect there to be any kind of referee. You either win, you let him, her or it quit, or you die. It's always that simple."

"Oh," Buffy replied.

She put the other packages under her arms and while walking, tried to get the sword out of the sheath. It wouldn't budge. Goku, seeing what she was trying to do, said, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"Why not?" Buffy asked, stopping to ask.

"Because the make seven is made out of the densest material the Compound knows about. The sheath is actually a device that pummels it with anti-graviton particles, making it a whole lot lighter than it would be normally, just so you can carry it. You might be able to get it out, but from what I've seen so far, you wouldn't be able to hold it at all." Goku told her.

Buffy, always one to take up a challenge, "Mind if I try out that theory?"

Goku smirked in wry and pitied amusement. "Go ahead, I got time." She handed him her other packages and took the sheath neck by one hand, and the hilt by the other. After ten seconds or so, even Xander could see the strain Buffy was putting into moving the sword. Finally, Goku suggested, "Try holding it horizontal. _Might_ make it easier."

She immediately did, and tried again. Slowly, very slowly, the blade began to emerge from the black sheath. It was gray, but a polished gray, and reflected the lighting well. Again, everyone could see the strain in the Slayer's arm, but her face was perfectly calm and almost relaxed. After a minute of pulling, the blade, a meter-long katana was removed from its sheath.

And immediately dropped to the floor with a loud clang. This time all appearances of calm left Buffy as she used both hands on the hilt and much to Goku's surprise, lifted the blade slowly to eye level. After a minute or so of holding it as such, she raised it some more, and took the blade through a familiar kata, or practice movement, that Giles had shown her that went well with this type of blade. Her movements were very slow, but precisely controlled, and Goku was nevertheless impressed, despite the simpleness of the moves she was performing. '_I guess Slayer's really are stronger than normal humans._' Goku thought.

"OK, you've made _your_ point and I'm sure that I made _mine_. So if you still want that demonstration before your Clinic appointment, then we'd better get going," he told her. She stopped moving and then almost casually spun the sword on her wrist, picked up the sheath, and replaced the blade. Taking back her packages, she smiled, and Goku knew that her arms were no doubt killing her.

Ninety minutes later, the group was back in the Main Gym. They had gone back to the quarters to drop off their stuff, and then were shown the eating area called the "Movable Mess". Named first and foremost because of it being a giant floating barge that you couldn't transfer to, but had to fly to. Buffy chose to fly with Goku, while the rest took the closest thing to a Taxi this place had. She was still talking about the experience.

After seeing the Mess, Goku showed them the park, the recreation area, and the Primary Building where the Council resides and where they filled out Buffy and group's paperwork. They each signed once to a contract that said the exact same thing that the Powers had told them they were getting into.

The fifty-cent tour over, Goku took them back to the Gym for the demonstration he promised them. Except they weren't behind the For-lass, they were out in the middle of a cleared area with all the other Fighters and etc standing at attention, all staring at the new recruits. If Buffy had felt like the "New Kid" on her first day at Sunnydale High, she now felt like she was stark naked and pimply and geeky on her first day here and now. Or at least like she was being watched, and she really didn't like that.

"OK, first demonstration. You have to be strong. And I don't mean super strong, or really strong, I mean _strong!_" Goku shouted to them from where he was. They were on the sidelines, with a clear view of the entire arena, but there were several groups of other Fighters on either side of them. Buffy and Willow both assumed them to be there in case the demonstration got out of hand.

Suddenly, as Goku finished his announcement, a huge, (remember how big _huge_ is?), black sphere just dropped out of the ceiling right where Goku was standing. It was like a bowling ball about to squish a virus. Except that at the last possible second, Goku put his right hand above his head and _caught it_! As easily as Buffy might catch a basketball, or a Nerf ball really. The humans stared in amazement, and Willow's mouth actually opened in shock.

Then, the amazing thing is, Goku _tossed_ the giant metal ball in the air, and did a mid-air up kick against the tiny portion of it that was against him, and the ball flew, no it _shot_ through the air and into an equally sized blue spot on the distant wall. Goku was standing in his exact same spot by the time that the ball disappeared.

He looked back to the shocked people on the sidelines and shouted the next part of his demonstration. "Next, you have to be fast. And not fast enough, not just faster than, but _fast_." And as he finished those words, _every_ fighter in the gym shot a single blast of energy, of one form or another, at the man standing there. Buffy almost cried out a warning, and Willow audibly gasped, but there was no time to do anything as the blasts were fired, they shot with the speed of light towards their trainer, and then…

And then he was just gone, not even there by the moment all the energy blasts connected on that point. There would have been an explosion, had it not been withheld by a force field that appeared in the nick of time. Less than a second after that, Buffy felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see what Willow wanted, but saw Goku instead. Her eyes widened, and then bulged more when he seemingly disappeared from in front of her. Her trained Slayer eyes caught a brief flash of what might have been movement in several places around her and the gym in general, but her eyes weren't fast enough to keep up.

After several more seconds of this hide and seek, where Goku would appear before one of them only to disappear less than a second later, he reappeared back out in the middle, where the blast and force field had quit. "How'd he do that?" Xander asked aloud.

Goku spoke again, "Then, you have to be _tough_. And tough like nothing you've ever seen. Gentlemen, if you will please demonstrate." Goku indicated two humanoid creatures that stepped out from the crowd. Buffy thought they looked human enough, except one had short-cut _purple_ hair and stood close to two meters tall and was so _big_ that they briefly mistook him for Arnold Schwarzenegger's older brother, while the other was bald, tan, and unnaturally thin. He also had black eyes that had no pupils and blinked sideways.

Goku flew up into the middle of the air once the other two "gentlemen" were in place. Then he just hovered there. The two creatures began to mutter words that the human's didn't immediately recognize, but found that they could understand, because while it was being said in a slightly different language, both were still human languages.

The big purple haired man brought his wrists together and just behind him, and began to shout or chant or call out or whatever in a very loud voice; "**KAAH…MAY…HAAAH…MAYYY…"**

And as he reached this point, a bright white ball of energy formed between his opened palms. Meanwhile, the skinny bald guy had his hands interlocked before him, and he was floating in the lotus position. He was definitely chanting, but as the chant came to a close and the other man got to the 'MAYYY' point, he shouted in a loud crystal clear voice a command of some kind, oh yeah, and he was glowing red:

"**DHALSIM'S YOGA SPIRIT ATTACK!!!"**

And at the exact same time, the purple haired man brought his hands forward, as well as the glowing white ball of power, and said the final word of his attack:

"_**HAH!!!!**_**"**

Then the most amazing thing yet happened. The ball of energy shot out in a beam of white energy, and from the bald guy, a giant dragon shaped form of fire energy shot out from him and both headed for Goku, who only hovered in the air, not indicating for a second that he was about to move. In fact if anything he appeared amused.

It almost seemed to go in slow motion at one point, for Buffy anyway. Unconsciously, her hand slipped into Willow's, and at the same time Xander's too found the fiery haired girl's other hand. And then the inevitable happened; the two energy attacks collided dead center on Goku. Buffy was sure that he hadn't moved away or anything. As the two energies hit their target, there was an explosion of light, and almost everyone there had to cover their eyes, or at the least blink. Then the light really did turn into an explosion, so loud that Buffy thought she was deaf if not for the ringing in her ears. As they continued to watch, the explosion lent way to a billowing cloud of smoke. And it was fast moving to cover everything.

Buffy noticed Willow beside her, she was chanting some Latin spell or something. '_This is not the time for spell casting Willow_,' Buffy thought. _Yes it is,_ came an almost immediate silent response. Buffy blinked and tried to figure out what had just happened. But she did not have time as she noticed the smoke cloud less than ten meters away and rapidly closing. Buffy had been caught in a dust storm once when she was a kid, so she knew exactly how dangerous and unpleasant they could be. She attempted to brace herself, and covered her eyes with her free forearm. Suddenly Willow's chanting reached a shouting climax and Buffy swore there was another flash of light.

The next thing anybody knew, the smoke cloud covered every inch of the floor of the Main Gym. Except for one area where the smoke was going in every direction to avoid it. The spot that Willow, Buffy, Xander, and Giles stood in. Slowly, over the next minute or so, the smoke slowly dissipated, and revealed almost everybody covered with a small covering of dust. Almost everybody except for the new recruits who were surrounded by a mystical barrier.

When Buffy looked up, she didn't see smoke, she didn't feel dust in her eyes or lungs. Rather she saw the smoke stop, just stop less than a meter from them, and then stay that distance away from them on all sides. "Willow?" Buffy asked. When her friend didn't answer, Buffy turned to her, concerned. What she saw concerned her even more. Willow was standing straighter than an ironing board, and her eyes were glowing slightly. Not any specific color, but they were definitely glowing.

"Willow?" Buffy asked again. The little witch didn't respond until the smoke had mostly dissipated. Then, it was only to take a deep breath. Buffy noticed that Giles had both of his hands on Willow's shoulders.

"Giles, what are you doing?" she asked, slightly miffed.

Giles looked confused for a moment, then saw where his hands were and after a moment to think, stuttered out a response. "Well…uh, that is, I believe that Willow created this barrier to protect us from the smoke cloud, and uh, she might not have been powerful enough alone, so she, well, I believe she focused our power into her spell as well."

Buffy looked down at her hand and noticed as if for the first time that it was holding Willow's, and on the other side, she could see Xander also holding Willow's hand. "OK, I guess that's a good way of looking at it. Xander…what are you looking at?" Buffy asked when she saw Xander just staring straight ahead, with his mouth open in shock. Xander, in response, only pointed at whatever he was looking at.

Buffy looked where he pointed and her own mouth dropped down. The next second, Willow let out a gasp, and her eyes stopped glowing and the barrier disappeared. Surprisingly, at least to her, she didn't faint, or even feel like fainting. Then she noticed the others holding her hands and looking into the distance, in shock.

Willow immediately went into panic mode. Did her spell cause this? Did she do this? How could she reverse it? What would she do now? What were they looking at? All these questions and more came to her mind, and when the last one was asked, Willow looked herself, and she joined them in a state of shock.

What they saw was Goku, still floating exactly where he had been and the only indication that he had been hit by the two energy blasts at all was he had three more strands of hair over his forehead. The transition from panic mode to babble mode was always easy for Willow, especially now.

"How…how did…he…they…the two…big explosion…they hit…he…I…shield…but he…how…did he…no, I…I saw him get hit, I saw him get hit. He did not dodge or disappear or anything, he got hit! Him getting hit is what I saw! How? How did he do that? Buffy?" Willow babbled.

"I'm right there with ya Red," responded the blonde Slayer.

After a moment or two, Goku "disappeared" again and reappeared right in front of Willow. They finally let go of their hands and Giles removed his. Willow was staring wide eyed up at the unscathed man, and he was glaring intensely at her. Enough so that Buffy decided that she didn't like it.

"How did you do that? Those blasts were massive, almost nothing could've survived that!" Buffy asked in an attempt to get him off Willow's case.

"I told you, tough." Goku responded, not taking his eyes from Willow. "Now you tell me something, why did Willow set up a mystical barrier? I figured even Xander could've handled something as small as dust."

Buffy would've answered to that, but Willow beat her to it. "Hey! Dust clouds can be pretty dangerous you know, and besides, what if we were blindsided or something? Just because we're supposed to be tough, fast, and strong by the time we leave doesn't mean that we are right now! So what if I did set up a barrier, it practically took all I had to do it anyway! And it worked, and I already did it and you can't do anything about that now, can you?"

Goku smiled. If Willow didn't know any better, she'd have thought it was a proud smile. Then Goku spoke. "Well, no I can't do anything about that now. All I can say is that I'm impressed. And there is one more thing that I have to show you. Yes, you need to be strong, and fast, and tough by the time you leave, but you also need one more thing, and it might be a good idea to have that before you even come here."

"What's that?" Buffy asked.

Goku, instead of answering, disappeared and immediately reappeared in the middle of the floor. "Power," he stated loud enough for them to hear. Then he went into a modified horse stance, his legs spaced evenly beneath him and his arms drawn back by his sides. Then he began to yell.

"Hhheeeeeeeyyaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!" the sound reverberated throughout the building. But that wasn't the impressive thing. The impressive thing, Buffy noticed first, followed quickly by Willow, Giles, and Xander was the last to even catch a clue about sensing it. As soon, if not sooner than the dark-haired man had started shouting, Buffy's stomach clenched. She vaguely recalled a long forgotten lecture by her first Watcher. The Slayer has the ability to sense and find vampires naturally. It is a reaction to their unnaturalness, their inhumanity. To her, that first time it was just cramps. Then she was able to get past the pain and able to focus it into a sixth sense sort of. More like an early warning of anything coming up where she couldn't see it, vampire or not.

She suddenly felt the cramps again. But it wasn't responding to vampires or anything like that. It was responding to Goku, and whatever he was doing. As she focused, she realized that she could get past the pain with this as well, and she realized something else as well. Goku was getting stronger, more powerful, and she knew it in her very marrow.

Willow could also detect Goku's growing strength, though she didn't feel it as a part of her anatomy or as anything Buffy felt it like. Rather she sensed it through her magical abilities and the effects of what he was doing on the surrounding environment. As they all watched, the air around Goku took on a blurry effect, like heat waves from the road, only much, much more intense and far closer.

Giles sensed Goku's growing strength much the way Willow had, through the magical talents he had acquired from his rebel days in college. Xander was the last to sense anything, and for him, it was like a presence, an impenetrable shadow on his mind that continuously grew bigger and darker. Whatever it was, it scared him.

And then the most truly amazing thing happened. Goku transformed. There was a flash of golden light, and when the Slayerettes looked again, Goku was standing there surrounded by a golden glow. But he was different. His hair was golden blonde, even more than Buffy's right after she came out of the bathroom. And if they could look closely enough, they would see that his black brown eyes were now a vivid blue sea green. His hair, where it had been wild before, now it was all going straight up, except for the two or three bangs left there on his forehead. Surrounded by the golden light, he looked awesome.

"Holy schnikes!" Xander exclaimed. Everyone was staring at the amazing sight in the middle of the arena. And more than half of them could feel the strength and "_power_" of the entity that was Goku.

"Giles, what the hell just happened here?" Buffy asked, turning to Giles for an answer as she always did.

Giles stared amazedly at the golden man that had guided them for the past two hours or so. He too felt the strength and sheer level of power that he exuded, and possibly held, though Giles severely doubted that he could ever sense this man's true power. After a full minute of silence, Giles answered Buffy's question. "I have no idea Buffy. I have no idea."

After maybe five minutes of standing there, powering up, Goku held his power level steady and "flashed", or ran faster than sight, over to his new trainees. To everyone else, he merely stopped glowing but did not turn back to the way he had been. And everyone could _feel_ how powerful he was.

When Goku reappeared before them, even Buffy had to jump. Willow and Xander screamed, while Giles let his breathing accelerate enough that his heart tried to beat its way out of his chest. "What? Did I scare you?" Goku asked in a teasing tone.

"What the…what the hell happened? What happened to you? _Who are you!??_" Buffy got out all in a rush. Again, she had subconsciously put herself between the "threat" and her allies.

"Oh, nothing much. I just powered up and transformed into a _Super Saiyan_." Goku answered back as though it were casual as knocking on someone's door before coming in.

"OK, back up, what the hell is a Super Saiyan?" Buffy accused.

Goku smiled that same pitying smile he seemed to like giving her, and dodged the question with, "I'll explain everything. I promise, and I always keep my promises. But for now, we might as well show you the Arboretum, it's a nice place to visit and calm down after a rough day. Even you'll like it Buffy."

Before Buffy could respond to the obvious attack on her attitude, she stopped. She was sensing something far more familiar to her, even this close to the star fire that was Goku. It was close, otherwise she never would have felt it. Focusing down, she barely managed to pinpoint the location and the source. _Vampire_.

Quickly double-checking, without letting it be overtly obvious that she was checking, Buffy felt for the back up stakes she kept in her jacket and pants leg. Turning so that it would look as though she were walking away in a huff from Goku, she was actually, maneuvering the stake in her jacket into her right hand and turning her body so that she faced the vampire that was less than five feet from Xander.

Goku found it odd that the girl who was so full of attitude and outright rebellious actions towards authority, wouldn't respond to the obvious jibe. That's when he noticed her reaching out with her senses. He found it odd that she already had an adaptation of the ability to sense other powers. She seemed to be searching the crowds, and when she found it, he noticed a pale, but big looking human barely five feet from Xander's back. Buffy's whole demeanor changed. He could even feel a slight flare of her own power. Then she turned her back on him, as though too angry for words, but he caught that she turned towards the man who was slowly inching closer to Xander. She also reached for something in her jacket, he was sure of it. The next things that happened even he didn't expect.

Buffy, just before walking her perfected, 'angry, fuming, storming off' routine, caught Giles' eyes and gave him a meaningful look that not many could've misunderstood. His returning nod was barely a twitch of his chin and he also started scanning the crowds. Then, taking four very quick steps that took her very close to Xander, she casually noticed that the vampire had slowly moved closer to Xander, before she took a final step that ended with her leg in his gut.

Xander, as he had planned on doing since he caught Buffy and Giles exchanging looks, dived and ducked away from Buffy as soon as she passed him. Before anybody could react further, Buffy kicked the big pale guy twice more, and then performing a perfect leg sweep. Before he could even get up, she pulled him up by the scruff of his collar, and threw him across the clearing in the crowd over next to Giles, who picked the vampire up himself and punched him, and then broke its neck. Keeping it down for a few moments longer anyway.

"Hey! What the heck are you guys doing?" Goku shouted. He tried to step up to Buffy but was shoved away by a surprisingly strong human that soon attacked Buffy, who was more than ready for it.

She began blocking and punching at an almost casual pace for her. She was almost amazed that vampires could ever be this easy. Then a punch caught her off-guard for a moment and she flew back nearly ten feet. Unfortunately, she was caught…by another vampire. He was already "vamped out", the term that Buffy used to describe the yellow eyes, rigid forehead, and sharp fangs that represented the demon half of the vampire. He smiled at her, not a pleasant smile, if anything about these guys was ever pleasant, and thought about lunging for a bite, but didn't do much after that as her leg suddenly knocked his head down a vertebrae on his dead spine.

Twisting away from the demon that had caught her, Buffy kept up her momentum and performed an arching roundhouse that knocked the vampire to the ground. Three vamps so far, she counted to herself. She noticed that Willow was staying as close as the little witch could next to Goku, and Xander was trying to help Giles with the vampire that had thrown her. Deciding to end this before it got any more dangerous, Buffy knelt to the vampire she had just knocked down and finally revealing the stake in her hand, drove the wooden object through the demon's heart, effectively turning it to dust in the five seconds since it had caught her.

Finished with that one, she ran to the one that Giles had broken the neck of and staked it through the back as it was staggering to its feet. Running past it, she took out her other stake and jumping over the battling three, tossed it to Xander, who easily caught it, but was almost just as easily knocked away in the next second. Giles also was cast aside, leaving Buffy to fend herself from the massive vampire.

Goku tried once more to intervene, "Hey! Stop it! Willow, what is going on?" The redheaded witch beside him merely shrugged and answered as casually as he had spoken to them before, "Vampires" as though that one word answered all his questions and actually, it did.

"Oh," he commented as he watched Buffy begin a complex series of rapid punches and kicks, which the large vampire had little trouble keeping up with it seemed. After maybe a minute more of this, with everyone watching the Slayer work, deciding that with the way she was going that if anybody interfered, they'd just get knocked flat on their butts. Then, Goku felt Buffy's power flare for just a moment or two, and suddenly the fight seemed to be going in her favor as she started pummeling through the undead creature's defenses faster than it could raise them. Finally, Buffy kicked the vampire to the ground and threw, with stunning precision and accuracy, the stake in her hand into the creature's heart, turning it to dust in the next second.

The group, Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Giles, regathered next to each other and to congratulate on the victory. At least that's how it started out.

"Way to go Buff!" Xander exclaimed. "That was one tough vamp, and I thought he nearly had you there. Nice jump by the way."

"Thanks," she responded, "but compared to Spike, that guy was easy. Tell you what really bugs me though, is how three vampires got _here_ and knew exactly where we were, and for that matter, why would they attack us? Seeing what Goku just did, and the fact that we're supposed to be able to do that, you'd think that they'd start by turning some of the other fighters here. It doesn't make much sense."

The others were obviously just as troubled as she was over this, until Goku stepped in, still a Super Saiyan. "Oh, don't worry too much about that. It was to be expected, and I figured if I'd warned you, then you might not have been as good as you were."

"What are you talking about gold boy?" Xander quipped.

Goku gave him a humoring grin and continued, "I'm talking about the fact that the Main Gym is more than just a gym. It's a training hall. Sometimes training means fighting enemies. So, using somewhat advanced technology, the main computer created synthoid manifestations of vampires. And had them attack you to test your fighting prowess."

"You mean those vamps were fake?!!" Xander shouted as they neared the MTC for the Main Gym floor. Goku only nodded.

"Well, fake enough. They were real in the sense that they could actually kill you if you don't defend yourself, but no, they were not case in point _real_ vampires. I might've come in and helped, but you looked like you were on a roll Buffy," Goku remarked as he pointed his right hand back to where they had come from, and suddenly an intense beam of yellow energy shot from his hand to a fourth vampire that the gym seemed to have made another of to keep them from leaving. It barely had time to register the attack before it was swallowed in the intense light and let loose an unearthly scream as it was vaporized on the spot with a small explosion.

Shrugging, Goku set the coordinates for the MTC and stepped through, the others staring in amazement at all they had just witnessed. Then one by one, Buffy first, they stepped through, following the Super Saiyan.

After another hour, in which the golden haired Super Saiyan showed them not only the arboretum, but took them to several viewing points throughout the Compound where they had the possibility of actually seeing a large number of the buildings and structures created inside this pocket universe. He also took them to "street level", a portion of the Compound that was a maze of twists, turns, and overall garbage around the bases and foundations of most of these buildings. A good portion of the higher and "intenser" training sessions would be conducted out here. With them anyway.

Then finally, Goku, still Super Saiyan, announced that it was time for their Clinic appointment. It was finally getting to Buffy, who was the most disturbed by the fighter's raging power. So while they were still some minutes away from the MTC, she voiced her annoyance.

"Goku, I don't suppose that you've noticed that you are still a, what did you call it? A _Super Saiyan_? And I don't know about the others, but I can _sense_ whatever it is, and it's starting to give me serious cramps, so unless you want to see me in the state "my time of the month" puts me in, then would you mind changing back or whatever it is that you do, OK?" she sarcastically asked of him.

Goku only shrugged, and without a word, his hair changed back to black falling back to its familiar wild routine, and his eyes back to basic black. Buffy visibly relaxed after this and everyone guessed as to how much it was really bothering her when she mumbled a serious, "Thanks," to him.

Willow was concerned about what Buffy had said though. "Buffy, what do you mean, you could 'sense' him?" she asked using her concerned friend voice.

Buffy just shrugged and tried to explain it as best she could to her friends and trainer. "Well, you know that the Slayer can sense vampires, right?" Giles and Willow nodded, while Xander looked skeptically at her.

"You're kidding right?" he asked, totally not believing. Buffy just shook her head and continued.

"Well, the first time that I felt a vampire, when my first watcher sent me down a dark alley, alone with nothing but a stake, I began to feel really bad cramps. After the vamp was dusted, my watcher explained that it was an ability to track and sense vampires. After a long time, having lived in Sunnydale where vamps are practically everywhere, I began to kind of get used to the cramps, and could actually turn it into a sort of vampire radar. Anyway, during the demonstration, when Goku was doing whatever he was doing to the air, it was so strong that it brought the cramps back." She finished.

"Oh," Willow and Xander synced.

"Um, Buff, I, uh, I, you know, I kinda felt something too," Willow stuttered.

"What do you mean Will?" Buffy asked, curious despite herself.

"I…I don't know exactly what he, um, you were doing Goku, but I…I don't know. I could _feel_ the energy you were raising, and the effect that it was having on the environment around you, and us. And when you…you transformed, it…it, it, it, it was, was like, like, like, like, like…" Xander hit Willow solidly on the back, "like your power nearly quadrupled after that. I don't get it. What exactly did you do?" she asked begging to know. After a moment, she mouthed a 'thanks' to her lifelong friend.

Goku was silent for a time, but he did eventually answer. "Well, Willow, actually, I'd like to think that my power, as you put it, more than quadrupled. I'd like to think that it exponentially increased as I willed it," he said cryptically.

"How did you do that?" Buffy asked instantly.

Goku gave her a curious look before continuing on walking. He answered some moments later. "I'll tell you what, I'll explain the finer mechanics of what I did, if you tell me how you did it."

"What?! I didn't do anything like that! I don't glow, and I don't know how to transform into this…this _Super Saiyan_!!" Buffy exclaimed angrily.

"I wasn't talking about transforming," Goku explained gently. "I was talking about, when you were about to take out that vampire back in the gym. You raised your own power level by a marginal, but significant amount."

"Oh," Buffy muttered, ashamed. Then, realizing what her trainer had said, she did a double take and asked, amazed, "I did?" Goku smiled and nodded.

Buffy thought for a moment about the fight barely an hour ago, how when she had sensed the vampire, all of her senses suddenly became focused on finding it, and every single one of her muscles tensed, just slightly, preparing for the adrenaline rush needed for fighting the undead creatures that she was called to destroy. It was strange, what she had felt then felt nothing like what Goku had done, but then, she wasn't Goku, so she couldn't know what it had felt like for him. Well, now was as good as anytime to find out.

"I'm not sure. I can't really imagine how I felt then could be anything similar to what you did, but…" Buffy tried to explain.

"Well, that may be because of the fact that I did it on a far larger scale. Like I said, you only raised it a marginal amount, but enough for me, who is highly trained to sense such fluctuations in any person's power, even at extremely low levels, to notice it. Why don't you tell me how it is that you first sensed the vampire?" Goku asked of her, believing that it was never too early to start some training.

Buffy thought about her answer for a moment before replying. "Well, I'm a Slayer, and according to my first Watcher, and Giles," she paused, smiling as mentioned Watcher blushes with the recognition, "They said that the Slayer is supposed to be able to sense vampires. I've been working on it ever since I came back from summer vacation. I got it down to where I can tell if a vampire is nearby if it's less than ten feet away, and on occasion, I can tell how many there are, and once I was even able to tell a different type of demon from the hoard of vamps it was with." Buffy boasted proudly. Goku nodded in understanding, or at least he seemed to.

"How old are you Buffy?" he asked suddenly.

Surprised at the question, she was flustered for a moment before answering, "Sixteen, why?" She did not receive an immediate response. Goku stared at her for a few moments, continuing to walk. Then he nodded, as though some thought had made an understanding sense to him finally. He turned to Giles, "Watcher, do you think you might be able to explain to me, _exactly_ how Buffy's "6th sense" works?"

Buffy was annoyed by the use of Giles' title rather than his name. "Hey! His name is Giles! And I don't appreciate it when people insult my friends, including my Watcher, by ordering them around!" she accused.

Goku then did an amazing thing. He blushed. And grinned sheepishly at Buffy and the flustered Watcher. Then ducking his head in embarrassment, he said to them, "Sorry Giles. And Buffy, I…I, uh, I kind of forgot his name. So when I forget people's names, I use their code-names. Everyone's has already been assigned, as you know. Giles' code-name is "Watcher", obviously. And I'm sorry Giles, but, you've just kind of been there, but I'm sure we'll be good friends, at least good enough for me to learn your name." He joked, smiling, hoping that they would catch on. Nobody laughed.

Giles did smile, in sympathetic understanding. Then he returned to the Saiyan's question. "Um, well, actually, I am not one hundred percent sure about all of Buffy's abilities. There is of course the enhanced strength, as well as a heightened immune and healing system. She can also learn to use almost any weapon instantly, provided she of course has some practice swings," the Watcher gave her a chiding parental look. She just returned it with a childish immature look, sticking her tongue out at him.

Continuing, "She also has the ability to resist most forms of vampire mesmerism. Though in most cases it is indeed a myth, provided the vampire is old enough, like the Master, then they do indeed have a form of mesmerism."

"That's funny, cause aside from the Master, I don't remember fighting any vampires with 'mesmerism' powers," Buffy interrupted.

Giles gave her a look, which made the younger girl blush at her outburst, which in turn caused Goku to smile at it. Giles continued, answering Buffy as well, "Spike, a recent vampire that had come to Sunnydale, who by the way has killed two Slayers already, has mesmerism powers, as well as his mate, Drusilla, and Angel once confided in me that he too has discovered that he has hypnotic abilities. He also said that Buffy was completely immune to them."

They all turned to Buffy, expecting her reaction, she just shrugged her shoulders, but knowing exactly the time that Giles was speaking of. Taking that as some form of answer, Giles finally got to the point of Goku's question. "As for Buffy's "6th sense" as you put it, her ability to sense vampires and demons, there is little more known about it, other than what the Slayer describes to her Watcher, and that it is very accurate when fully tested."

"Tested?" Goku asked.

Giles, distracted by something, "Hmm? Oh, well, the council, the Watcher's Council that is, has every so often tried to study this phenomenon of the Slayer's powers. As I understand it, they would blind fold the Slayer and place her in either a very crowded and noisy room, or in a sound proof chamber. They would then take captured and weakened vampires and various other demons to within range of what the Slayer said she could sense. It was a very long time ago, but I believe the chronicle said that the most any Slayer was able to sense accurately was between 100 and 90 meters away. But then, the Council only tested with vampires in those stages." Giles finished and turned to the man that was their trainer.

The taller man had a thoughtful look on his face as he considered what Giles had told him. He stopped, the others stopped around him, wondering what he could possibly be thinking. Then he told them.

"Buffy, do you remember what _I_ felt like when I was powering up back in the gym?" he asked her, his face quite serious.

Buffy nodded, remembering. "I don't think I'll ever be able to forget it," she answered solemnly. Goku nodded and told them, "Stay here. I want to try something. I'm going to go behind one of these buildings and transform to Super Saiyan, powering up exactly as I did in the gym. I want you all to stay here, and if you sense me Buffy, then point out which building, and try and focus on where exactly I am. And you two," he said pointing at Willow and Giles, "no helping her. I know that both of you have some magical talent, and that no doubt helped you to sense me before, but this is testing Buffy's powers, not yours. We'll work on your own sensing abilities later, but for now, we're working with Buffy. OK?" The two nodded.

Nodding himself, Goku chose a direction, and in a flash he was in the air and disappeared behind one of the corners. Several seconds later, Buffy, Willow, and to a smaller degree Giles felt something. It was similar to what they had felt and seen in the gym, but because they couldn't see the source, their senses didn't quite fully detect it.

But Buffy's did. For whatever reason, the second that Goku started to "power up" as he had put it, she felt her cramps start up again. As she focused herself past the pain, only rubbing her stomach lightly as any indication, she focused down on what her "6th sense" was telling her about what she was feeling. It was huge, almost identical to before, and as she continued to focus, and the pain lessened, she began to think of this type of "blip" on her radar as _Goku_. Closing her eyes in concentration, Buffy bit down the rest of the pain and forced herself to identify the "blip's" location.

She turned slightly in the direction and 'felt' which building, what corner, and to a much smaller degree, how much power the blip had. Opening her eyes, she turned her head to the building that she sensed Goku behind, he was hiding on the corner exactly opposite from the corner facing them. She smiled.

Willow suddenly exclaimed. "Ooh! I found him, he's there!" she said pointing excitedly at the building that Buffy had correctly identified that her trainer was hiding behind. Suddenly, the blip practically disappeared off her radar. She wondered what happened, until she realized that he had just returned to normal. No longer powered up.

She wondered if she could sense him when he was like this. Closing her eyes again, she focused and searched for anything similar to what 'felt' like that big blip that was on her 'screen' just moments ago. A second of concentrating, she suddenly found him. He was moving like lightning, practically straight at them, but not without bouncing off a few buildings too. Focusing all her other senses, opening her eyes, with her new sense, her head jumping around like at a ping pong tournament, she could barely make out movement wherever she looked, and she knew that she heard whistling, or some kind of wind sound as well.

She kept this up, beginning to get a serious headache, when Goku finally reappeared in front of them. "Well?" he asked dead serious. Willow answered first, pointing at the building, "That one!" she exclaimed, very excited. Until Goku gave her an identical look to the one Giles had given Buffy before.

Buffy nodded and pointed at the same building. "That one alright. On the corner opposite us. I could also, when I concentrated, follow some of your movements after you powered down," she answered like the prize pupil, which she felt like since she was now in a school all about fighting.

Goku smiled and nodded in approval. Willow looked confused. "Actually, I thought you were inside the building," she commented.

Goku shrugged. "Buffy's right, I was on the corner opposite. Close to the wall, but definitely outside, sorry Willow." Willow only nodded, and accepted that she would have to train _really_ hard if she was supposed to _help_ Buffy in this fighting tournament thing. She made a promise then and there to herself that she would work herself tired and beyond to be good enough for Buffy.

"OK, that time, I was the exact distance that I was away from you in the gym. This time, I want you to try and guess direction, position, and _distance_," Goku told Buffy. She nodded, but asked a quick question. "How far away were you this time?" she asked. "20 meters," he replied. Nodding, she went back to her standing position and closed her eyes, concentrating on Goku the entire way as he flashed from point to point through the buildings.

At some point she lost him entirely and couldn't find him until he started powering up again. Once he was at what she called "Super Saiyan" level, she tried to calculate in her mind how far away he was. Keeping in mind that the first two times were 20 meters away, she tried simple addition, and moved on to multiplication. After maybe a minute, she was amazed at her guess; _100 meters!_!! As she continued to concentrate, she realized that she could sense many more things about Goku that she initially could. Must be the practice she mused.

But before she could really identify all of the new things she had begun to sense, he dropped his power level all of a sudden and began to return to them, along a very jagged route. She tried following him again, yet all of a sudden, it was like she just lost him. It wasn't until he felt like three meters away that she could sense him again.

Opening her eyes, she saw him flash back in front of them, and look at her expectantly. She pointed to an area to the right and back of where they were currently standing, and said, "There, between two buildings it felt like, like in an alley, or behind some really big shade. And it felt, at least I added it up in my head, like it was about 100 meters or so away. That right?"

Goku raised an eyebrow, clearly impressed. "That's right. If you want to get exact, then 102.3 meters. But that's very good Buffy." Looking at his Global, he quickly began walking again in the direction of the MTC. "We'd better get going. We're going to be pushing how "on time" we are as it is."

The others began to jog, keeping up with the Saiyan as he strode quickly to get them to their appointment on time. Buffy decided to ask the question she had now, thinking that they might get too busy if she waited till later to ask.

"Goku, I do have a question," she informed him.

"What's that?" he asked, absently.

"The last time just now, when you were going out to power up, and even as you came back, I tried to track you, as, you know, as you are. But I lost you both times. Do you think that this ability to sense might be screwing up somehow? I mean, I know that I only just discovered what it can really do, but if it's blitzing now, then what's to say that it won't when I develop it some more?" she voiced her concerns.

Goku smiled, and even chuckled a little as he broke into a slight run himself, still allowing the others to keep up. "Heh, actually Buffy, there was absolutely nothing wrong with your senses. I was actually hiding my power level, as I went from my hiding place to the group. Just to see how well you might be able to focus. I'll ask for details later, but right now," he said as they came up to the black MTC, "you've got a doctor's appointment, and believe you me, they do not like to be kept waiting."

He entered the coordinates and then a picture of a very nice waiting room appeared in the black portal. Buffy entered first quickly followed by the other three. Goku waited until the portal closed, and then reopened it to a different place before stepping through himself. He appeared in the control room/observation room adjacent to where his new charges would be…operated on. Sadly, it was the only way to install the translating device to the brain, but all the same, Goku didn't entirely trust it, as he knew that there might be a protest from Buffy and her team. Proving him right, a slight explosion of voices could be heard through the supposed soundproof walls of the control room.

Buffy was somewhat surprised at the normalcy of the room she had just entered. She heard, as well as sensed the others enter behind her. Having just learned a cool, and potentially valuable new trick, Buffy wanted to use it as much as possible, first to get used to it, and second to hone it so that she could use it to its maximum potential.

Normally she wasn't like this, but after everything she had seen in the past few hours, not to mention all the day dreams she'd been having about the upcoming fights, and her laser sharp memory of what Goku's palm-pilot had told of her schedule, every advantage she had, the better off she was.

As she looked around the waiting room, she was afraid to sit down, remembering when Goku had come in at the exact moment that she had laid on the couch earlier. '_Speaking of Goku…_' she thought as she looked behind them at the closed MTC, '…_where is he?_'

"Hey, you guys," Buffy said breaking everyone out of their own thoughts, "anybody see if Goku came in behind us? He's not here."

Almost immediately as she said that, a hydraulic door that they had not noticed yet suddenly _whooshed_ open and two very tall and tough looking robots walked in. They stood about a meter above Xander, who was the tallest of the group. They were humanoid enough in the appearance of having a torso, two arms, two legs, and a head, but the arms were metal pipe thin, the legs were double jointed and backwards like a cat's, and the head was like Robocop's head, minus the human mouth and the fact that a red bar of light occasionally flickered across the visor. The torso was just a simple tube that expanded out at the arms and legs to connect to. As for hands, well, they just seemed to be tentacles that shot out of the thin metal pipe arms.

So when the mentioned appendages suddenly shot out and wrapped themselves around Xander and Giles' waists, lifting them in the air, all hell broke loose as expected. "Aaaahhhhh!" both men screamed as they suddenly found themselves held immobile by something unknown. "Giles! Xander!" Buffy and Willow screamed together.

Buffy immediately raced forward and grabbed the tentacle thing around Xander and pulled with all her strength in an attempt to remove it. "GOKU!!! HELP!!" She screamed at the same time, the metal ropes completely unmoving. Willow, meanwhile was trying another tactic against the robots, magic.

Finally, Buffy made some headway, and the tightening metal tubes wrapped twice around her friend were torn apart at the seams in her bare hands. She wasn't exactly surprised at this since it had taken everything that she had, and it looked like the only thing holding the coils together were the wires that worked them on the inside. Xander fell to the ground and he struggled to regain his breathing after the thing had nearly squeezed his lungs out of his chest.

Buffy, not wanting to chance that this thing would grow new tentacles, or have some other way to come after Xander or herself, she solidly kicked the thing in it's torso and faster than it could react, followed up with a sweep the knocked it back and down for a little bit. Wanting to end it so that she could go and help Giles and the others, Buffy struck out at what she hoped was a vital part of the robot, the head.

Jumping up, Buffy spin-drop kicked the visor with such force that it shattered and crumbled at the impact and immediately the thing stopped moving. Watching for a brief moment to ensure the robot would not be getting back up, she got up and turned to help her friends, only to see Willow finishing the spell she was casting, which seemed to turn the offending machine into a large pile of green Jell-O. Much to the chagrin of the older watcher.

"Nice goin' Will," Buffy commented with a laugh.

The redheaded witch just blushed and smiled sheepishly, choosing to try and help Giles out of the mess she made rather than laugh about it. Xander on the other hand… "You know G-man, I probably should have noticed this before, but _green_ is a _very_ nice color on you! Maybe you should start wearing that instead of tweed!"

The elder watcher just stood and glared at the younger warrior, albeit covered in a green slimy Jell-O substance. "Xander, I do not know how many times I must tell you this. I _detest_ it when you call me…"G-man" and I would be much appreciative if you would forever refrain from doing so again. Now-now help me out-out of this-this-this…"

"Jell-O." Willow provided. Giles just glared at her, and together the two teens helped the green covered man to stand without slipping. Buffy just laughed hysterically at the whole scene.

"I notice that you aren't helping any," Giles reprimanded.

Buffy just shrugged, still grinning, and then lamely retorted, "Not my mess." Buffy turned away before her three team members turned devastating life-threatening glares at her back. After a minute to get more or less comfortable again, Buffy turned back to the others, all business.

"I don't get this place. First thing when we get here is end up in a _very_ comfortable room that makes it look like we'd be there for a while, two seconds after we do, they send in the toughest fighter I've ever _heard_ about, let alone _seen_, who insults us and makes us jog like a whole kilometer before beating me up and throwing us, rather roughly through a portal of unknown origins. Then a couple hours later we're fighting vampires again, and told that we have to practically kill ourselves to get strong enough to even survive in this Tournament. Now, at our _Doctor's appointment_ no less, we're attacked again, this time by robots. Geez, does the training ever stop?!!" Buffy whined/outlined.

"Wait-wait-wait-wait a second guys!" Willow said suddenly. Everyone turned their attention her. "What if-what if-what-what-what…" "Will, do you need another slap?" Xander interrupted. Willow shook herself and finished her thought, "What if those…things were-were…were our…nurses?"

Everyone stared in shock at the revelation presented to them. They all looked down at their assailants, and realized that despite the surprise, strength, and capabilities of them, they weren't exactly hard to beat. Meaning that they weren't there to test the team's strength or give them a workout.

Buffy summed it up best in, "Uh oh." Two seconds before the same hydraulic door opened, and this time a dozen of the robots filed out before surrounding the group. "Ditto," Xander muttered before he, Giles, Buffy, and most importantly Willow were literally paralyzed with over two dozen tentacles covering each limb of their body.

"GOOOOKKUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!" Buffy screamed at the top of her lungs, which was quickly echoed by Willow and Xander, Giles choosing to grunt in his struggles. After several minutes of struggles and screams, the robots or whatever they are spared a tentacle each to wrap over each screaming teenager's mouth, before finally moving them, wrapped and all, through the hydraulic door and into a too dark room to see anything. Then before they were even aware of it, they were unconscious.

Seven Hours later 

Buffy slowly became aware of her surroundings. An unfamiliar ceiling, a comfortable, but unknown bed, and walls that looked familiar, but she did not immediately recognize. She moaned quietly, the soft sound echoing slightly in the egg like room. Slowly, taking ginger care so as not to be dizzy, the young Slayer sat up and got a better look at a room that she had barely glanced at before. Looking to the right of the bed, she saw the glass panel that was the door to her personal bathroom, which she'd gone through earlier just after she'd arrived actually.

Shaking her head she actually took in the time to study the room that would be hers for the next six weeks. The bed that she was currently sitting on was pretty much a standard rectangular bed, except that it was maybe one size smaller than 'King size'. Barely. The sheets, which were the only things on the bed, aside from some surprisingly sturdy pillows, were a spiral graph-patterned blue and pink color, her favorite she noted. Currently the sheets were tucked into the bed, she seemed to have been placed on top of them and not tucked in for anything.

The room itself was almost a miniature model of the 'living room'. It was domed, sort of, but rather than go high above her head at a point, the ceiling, at a certain point along the wall, lost the sharp slope it had been going at and went into a nice curve along so that everything looked smooth, so it was kind of like living in an egg almost. She also noted that the room lacked any outstanding decoration, save a desk on the right of the bed, a dresser along the wall to the left of the bed, and the glass panel door to the bathroom. The room, for the most part was a soft silverish-gray hue color, while the carpet's color was a dark blue. The furniture, desk and dresser were a soft bluish color that when set against the wall matched with the bed, yet causing the glass panel bathroom door, and the door to the 'living room' to be vividly more noticeable.

It wasn't until Buffy stood up from the large bed that she noticed the changes in her own person since being attacked by the robotic nurses from…wherever the hell they were. Instead of the comfortable, yet snug clothes that she'd gone out on patrol wearing, she was now dressed in loose, very loose, faded blue pajamas. Well, that was the best description for them. They actually felt more like a hospital gown than any number of the pajamas that she'd worn in her life. Save for the breeze.

A sudden thought crossed her mind, and quickly she reached her hands behind her, feeling the back of her new clothing. Thankfully, she felt material covering her butt and her backside. They weren't actually that bad, very comfortable in fact, if not for the fact that it was the only thing that she was wearing. Looking down at herself again, she was surprised to see that the faded blue outfit more closely resembled a hospital doctor's "scrubs" rather than the patient gowns that it felt like. She was also bare foot, making her appreciate the warm carpet all the more.

Deciding that she would get no answers just sitting around here, she moved to the door, and almost ran right into it since it didn't open. Remembering what Goku had told them about the doors, she decided to have it voice recognized, since she didn't feel like touching her thumb to some small plate every time she wants to get in.

Recalling how Goku had said to set the doors, she said in a clear, commanding voice, "Voice recognition: Buffy Summers, command: Open."

Needless to say, she was a little surprised when a metallic voice responded from somewhere in the ceiling, "Require Code Name for Command authorization."

"Code name?" Buffy asked, confused.

"Code Name." Was repeated as statement.

Buffy thought for a second or two and almost slapped herself. "Slayer," she said in a huff. A second later, a computer-typical beep of approval sounded followed by the doors opening just like they did on Star Trek. Buffy sighed and stepped through, and stopped as soon as she saw Goku sitting on the couch in their 'living room', staring at her as she came out of her room. For some strange reason she suddenly felt self-conscious, though she didn't really have a reason to feel such.

"Um, hey," she greeted shyly, her trembling hands trying to find something to do with themselves before finally settling across her chest.

Unsmiling and raising his hand in greeting, Goku responded, "Hi." Strangely, his voice sounded abnormally dull to her. Very unusual from what she had seen of the intense trainer so far. '_Wonder what's going on?'_ Buffy thought to herself, moving to sit in one of the chairs opposite Goku, right before another door hissed open and Willow stepped out wearing the exact same outfit that Buffy had woken up in.

"Hey Will, how ya feelin'?" Buffy asked, sitting down, the alien chair immediately conforming to her body with a comfortable aired feeling.

"Um, actually kinda…uh, good I guess. I had a slight headache when I woke up, but it's gone now." The redheaded witch replied. She quietly made her way to the other recliner.

A couple of silent minutes after that, seemingly at the same time, Xander and Giles' doors both opened and both men, squinting at the somewhat brighter light of the room, stepped out and took in the surroundings. They also had on the strange garbs. "Uh, mornin', or whatever the heck time it is," Xander muttered to the girls. Giles just nodded to those already seated and made way to the one of the chairs.

After several minutes more silence, Willow commented aloud. "I kinda feel like when I was a kid and just woke up from a nap, and it was raining outside. Well, no rain, but the nap part is true."

The statement met only silence. For a strange reason they all kinda felt that way, peaceful in a way that they hadn't felt since they were all children. Finally Buffy, always the first to lose patience over just about anything, blew the question on everybody's minds. "All right Goku, what's going on? We go into our doctors appointment, we accidentally beat up/destroy our nurses, by the way sorry about that," Goku only smiled and waved off the apology, "and then all of a sudden a whole army of nurse-bots come in and the next thing I know, I'm waking up in 'my room'. What happened? I thought you said it was just a check up or some thing."

"I never said that," Goku stated. "What I said, maybe not exactly but close enough, was 'you were going to the Clinic, where you would get translating devices installed.' You did."

As the revelation of what he'd said sunk in, Buffy quirked a brow and looked around on herself and around the room, and at the others. "So, uh, where are they?" she asked him. Rather than answer, Goku moved his right hand up as though to scratch his ear. He did, but once he did, his hand went to the back of his own skull, which he then tapped noticeably.

Confused, and it showing, Buffy moved her own hand to the back of her head, expecting to feel some kind of mechanical device like with the Borg on Star Trek, even though none of the others had anything on the back of their heads. She didn't find a device or anything out of the ordinary popping out of her head. Instead, as she felt her scalp, she felt a straight line of what felt like scar tissue, running along the back tip of her head to the base of the skull. Scar tissue that she couldn't really remember getting.

Suddenly it all clicked as Buffy's eyes went wider than saucers as the truth hit home. Slowly, she removed her hand from her head, staring in muted shock at Goku. He grimaced and sadly nodded his head. He couldn't meet her stare as her shock shifted to anger and outrage.

As their declared leader stared down at their Trainer, the others slowly came to the realization that Goku had hinted at, and they probably should have known from the beginning would be the case. While Willow and Giles were far easier at accepting it, both having undergone surgery (appendix, tonsils, etc) before, Xander and Buffy were a little less than comfortable with the fact.

"Wait, wait-wait-wait-wait just a second here!" Xander exclaimed, after checking to feel his own scar. "You-you mean to say that-that, that th-th-they…you did brain surgery on US!!"

Goku didn't react, not in the least, and it was this silent admission that gave them the answer. "Why?" Buffy asked in a voice full of hurt and betrayal. The dark-haired alien folded his hands before him, covering his mouth as he thought of the best answer. Finally he just gave the one the doctors gave him and everybody else when asked the same question.

"It's the only way to install the translating devices. The translators are actually little larger than the thinness of a few cells, and at points not even that. The "translator" is actually a thin sheet of interconnected synapses that are programmed with the combined knowledge of every language, mood, dialect, gesture, and innuendo of every single species here, as well as on Evil's side. For some reason the original designer of them thought that it might be a good idea if Good and Evil knew how to insult one another when fighting." Goku explained quietly.

The group was quiet after this, silently digesting this new information. Finally Buffy and Xander both decided that it was too trivial, not to mention already done, to hold a grudge for. Besides, it took care of the language problem that had been on Buffy's thoughts. "OK, never mind that. Besides, it takes care of the whole language barrier problem. But wasn't there some way besides _surgery_?" Buffy asked.

Goku just slightly shook his head to the negative. "No, ever since the 'translator' was developed, the Council has made it a requirement that every fighter, no matter whether they fight or not, gets a translator installed. I don't know how long ago it might have been, but the real plus is that sometimes you find yourself speaking some language you never even heard before you came here. That is if you can call it a plus," Goku responded sourly.

As Buffy considered this statement, Willow caught the one phrase that she had missed. "What do you mean, 'no matter whether they fight or not'?" Willow asked. "You mean we can actually choose _not_ to fight?" she added hopefully.

Goku smirked slightly and shook his head. Putting his hands on his knees he replied, "No Willow. There are a limited number of fighters that fight every three months at the main competition. It changes every Tournament, mostly due to the number of fighters available by each side. I have no idea how they go about choosing the number each year, but all I know is, I show up, I get my fight schedule, and I fight my opponent and try to win the Tournament. It's the ones that are in between; the preliminaries I told you about earlier that choose which of Good are going in. Only the best, meaning the top however many are entering this time get to fight in the main Tournament. Oh, and a word of warning, if you don't fight by the third Tournament from the time that you come to the Compound, the Powers either remove their immortality, or they just kill you. I've never been one not to fight, but either way, I'm still not stupid enough to tempt my luck by missing out unless I have a valid excuse."

"Oh, OK, so all we have to do is fight in the preliminary Tournament held here, and if we don't win then we don't have to go to the big Tournament where we, uh, have to uh, kill or be killed?" Willow asked nervously dancing around the thought of having to kill another being that wasn't a vampire or something pure evil.

As though reading her mind, Goku assured her, "Don't worry Willow, there's a reason they call it Evil. Most of whom you might be facing are going to be demons or Warlocks, probably from various Earth's and Hell's. And, no, you don't have to fight in the preliminary Tournament."

"Oh, good," Willow sighed with relief.

"Because you're automatically going to the Main Tournament for the next fifteen Tournaments," he added.

Every eye in the room was automatically on him. He almost seemed to shrink down a little under the stares. "What?!!" Willow screeched. The nervousness lessened only to be replaced by a growing concern as Goku sighed as though bearing some indefinable weight.

Goku sat back and looked at each of his new students in turn. "While you were in…at your Clinic appointment, I went to the Council's building, where you signed those forms earlier," they all nodded, "And I tried to find out why you had been given such an intense schedule, I mean I was three times as strong as all of you combined when I first came here, and I never had it this rough. Usually if the recruit shows promise we'll intensify the training to maybe something close to what yours is right now, but… Apparently the Powers expect you to be in the very next Tournament, and in order to make sure that you'll even qualify, I'm going to be putting two of you through training that would make me pass out after the first week, well when I first got here anyway. Now I think I can keep up with it, I hope."

All of the humans subconsciously gulped at the same time as he explained this. Buffy was the first to accept it, after all, she had been the one that had gotten them all involved in this anyway. So, taking a deep breath Buffy asked the one question she dreaded the answer to more than any other. "So, when do we start?"

The others all looked at her like she was completely bonkers, save Goku, who held a look of understanding, and still some pity for her. "Tomorrow," he answered. "After you get some sleep. I'll be here to get you all up for your training." Quietly he got up and started to the exit, but was stopped by a question from Willow.

"What do you mean you'll only be putting _two_ of us through th-that workout? Which two?" she asked concerned for her friends, or for herself.

Goku grimaced and decided to explain. "I'll personally be training Buffy and Xander, because I can push Buffy the hardest out of all of the Trainers here, and I can probably get Xander to _at least_ her current level by the time we're done. Willow, since you're studying magic, you will personally be trained by two of the four Arch Mages I told you about earlier. Giles, mostly because of his physical age can't really be fully trained in either aspect, but we'll all be together for group training sessions, which will take up most of the mornings for the next six weeks. Don't worry Giles, we have something special planned for you. It'll help you a lot, but sorry," he said with a grin, "I'm not allowed to say."

"Oh," Willow muttered.

Starting for the exit again, Goku was saying, "Now you all had better get a good night's sleep. You're going to need it for tomorrow."

"Well I'm not particularly tired right now, especially since we've been sleeping for the past…" Buffy trailed off as she tried to guess at how long they'd been out.

"Seven hours." Goku supplied.

"Huh?" the blonde asked.

"You were knocked out exactly seven hours ago. But you've been unconscious, not asleep. There is a difference. Believe me, I know." Goku elaborated.

Suddenly Buffy smiled as she sat back down on the couch. "Well I never really could go to sleep without a bedtime story. How about the rest of you?" she shared a grin with Xander and Willow as she asked. They quickly emulated her in expression and turned to the Saiyan.

"Nope, never could sleep a wink unless I heard "How the Little Engine Could" at least twice, maybe even ten times," Xander responded with a wider grin at the older man.

"Me either," Willow added, smiling. "Course I was usually the one that ended up reading "The Little Engine that could" to Xander ten or twenty times a night."

"Oh, by the way, in case I never did, thanks for that Wills," Xander half turned to her.

Willow only brightened her smile and nodded her approval and thanks for the statement. Goku meanwhile was turning the gears over in his head as he realized what Buffy was doing. When he had it figured, he smirked ruefully and turned to the Slayer, "So is this your roundabout way of asking me to tell you more about myself?" he asked.

Buffy gave him a lopsided grin and raised an eyebrow, impressed. She turned to the others, "He's a quick one ain't he?" Interestingly they all, including Giles broke out laughing.

"At least he got it quicker than Angel did!" Willow called out between giggles.

At the name 'Angel' Goku tensed, not expecting to have to tell them that catch so soon. Giles, who had quit laughing at the same statement, noticed Goku's reaction and asked him about it. "Goku, what's wrong?" That stopped the laughter all together as all attention was back on Goku.

"Oh boy," he muttered under his breath before grabbing one of the other chairs and sitting back down, backwards.

They were all quiet, waiting patiently for their Trainer to explain what was bothering him. Finally it became obvious that he wasn't going to say anything without a push. "Goku, is there something wrong?" Buffy asked, her concern obvious in her voice.

Goku breathed a heavy sigh and squeezed his eyes tight, as though bracing himself for some unknown pain. Finally he breathed out, "Could I tell you later?" he asked, his words pleading. Buffy scrunched her face in concern, but shrugged and nodded her head, saying, "Yeah sure. Besides, you're the Trainer. And if it'll help, I'd much rather know your story rather than hear something that'll probably depress me further."

Goku grinned at the humor and nodded. "OK, my story huh? Well, I guess to understand any of it I'll have to start at the very beginning. Roughly about one hundred fifty years ago in my home universe. There's a lot of back-story you see. I mean if you would try to explain the concept of Slayers and Vampires to an alien, who had never even been to Earth, let alone knew of it's legends, just imagine the time you'd have huh?"

Seeing the nods of agreement, especially from Giles, Goku grinned once again and began his ancient tale.

"I suppose for you to understand any of my history, you'll have to know the whole story. I told you that I was a Saiyan, well that's only partly true, because I'm only partly Saiyan. I'm more like 1/8th Saiyan, the rest human."

"I guess it all really began on a planet very far from Earth. Nobody can really know what it was called since it was destroyed a little over three hundred years ago. On this planet was where the Saiyan race was born. Saiyan's are natural fighters, from the day they are born to the day they die, preferably in battle. They strive to be stronger, always facing opponents that are stronger than them, otherwise what's the challenge? Well at some point the Saiyan king struck a deal with an intergalactic gangster, who was powerful enough, without weapons mind you, to destroy every planet in the universe, named Frieza. The deal was, that Frieza would not destroy the entire Saiyan race if they worked for him. Specifically going to worlds and wiping out their populations so that he could sell the planets to whoever wanted them. The way that the Saiyan's worked, they would send one of their infants, which was already stronger than any adult human warrior, in a space pod to the planet Frieza wanted them to wipe out, and then that Saiyan child, truly aggressive and blood thirsty as all Saiyan children were from the beginning, would be left to wipe out that planet's population. The true reason for this lies in the Saiyan's secret weapon, their tails."

"Their tails?" Buffy interrupted, confused.

Goku nodded and continued. "A Saiyan's tail represents the Saiyan's greatest strength. Every Saiyan with a tail that sees the light of a full moon will transform into, for lack of a better term, a giant ape monster. Only the strongest of Saiyan's can control themselves in this form, all others are mindless ravenous beasts. And as you've no doubt noticed, I do have my tail, but also I am among those strongest and also, there's no moon in the Compound so no worries." Goku unwrapped the furry "belt" around his waist and all could see that it indeed was a tail, which was wagging much like a feline's tail though it looked exactly like a monkey's.

"Anyway, one of these Saiyan babies were sent to Earth, the Earth of my reality keep in mind. His Saiyan name was Kakarrot, but when he was found by an elderly hermit, the hermit, named Gohan, named him "Goku". Before you ask any questions, let me finish. Goku at first was like all Saiyan children, extremely aggressive, blood thirsty, and downright mean. Then, one day, something happened, and Goku hit his head, and after recuperating he was the best-behaved child this side of pure happiness. His adopted father, who he called grandfather, raised him in the mountains until the day that the hermit died, killed by some giant ape monster. After a time, Goku made some friends and traveled the world with them, looking for magical jewels, called 'Dragon Balls' that when you gathered all seven, they summoned a mystical dragon that would grant you any wish. After they had gathered the Dragon Balls, when he was just 10 years old, Goku went to train under another hermit, this one a martial arts master named 'Master Roshi'. Goku wanted to enter and win the World Martial Arts Tournament that was held annually."

"Well, Goku wasn't the only student Master Roshi was training. The second was a young human boy, about 13 years old who also wanted to win the Martial Arts Tournament, named Krillin. Together they learned the Martial Arts that Roshi taught and together they became some of the strongest warriors on the planet."

"Well, about thirty years down the line, Goku is married and has one son. His wife, Chi Chi, was the loudest most overbearing, controlling, and dangerous freak this side of Freddy Krueger, and even he would be scared of her if you got her mad. His son was named Gohan, in memory of the man that raised him. Gohan, being half Saiyan also had a tail. Over the years Goku had made a lot of enemies, but many more friends. A case in both was another alien child that was actually 'born' on Earth. His name was Piccolo, and he was a Namekian. I'll show you a holo later."

"Well Piccolo and Goku had a long-standing rivalry, and both were among the strongest beings on the face of the planet. Until Raditz, Goku's older pure blood Saiyan brother arrived to discover why Goku hadn't destroyed the planet yet. Raditz then made the unfortunate mistake of kidnapping Goku's son, and then planning on destroying the entire planet himself. For once, Goku and Piccolo put aside their rivalry to face the evil Saiyan on equal terms. Unfortunately, Raditz still whooped their asses. Until Piccolo revealed a new technique he had been working on. Fortunately it was enough, but the sad part was that in order to keep Raditz from dodging it, Goku had to hold him in place. So Goku was dead. But being dead works a funny way on my world. It's exactly like being alive; you just have a halo above your head. Heck, before I joined up with the tournament I myself was dead at least twice. The only way to be brought back to life, at least the only way that we ever knew of was to wish somebody back to life with the Dragon Balls."

"So when Raditz made his final threat that two stronger Saiyan's would be arriving on Earth a year down the line, the 'Z fighters' as they called themselves started to train, and train hard. Piccolo, having seen that Gohan had the greatest potential out of all of them, personally trained the 8-year-old half-Saiyan. A year down the line, Goku was brought back to life after having trained with a big-time guru on the Other Side, and came back in the nick of time, just to see Piccolo sacrifice himself to save Gohan from being killed. This is important because there was another Namekian on the planet, and that was Piccolo's father and the creator of the Dragon Balls, named Kami."

"So Goku faced off with the two Saiyan's, the Saiyan Prince Vegeta, and his flunky sidekick who I don't really remember the name of right now. Doesn't matter though because Vegeta killed him because he wasn't doing his job right, namely killing Goku. So Vegeta entered the fight, and it was pretty much a stand off until Goku actually managed to blast the other pure Saiyan into high-orbit."

"That wasn't all though. Vegeta came back, heavily injured, and revealed that he could transform and still win, just by creating an artificial source of full moon light. Needless to say, the paralyzed Goku, (not permanently, just because he put so much energy into his attack that he could barely move, and not without some major hurtin'), was quickly outmatched. Leaving it to his son Gohan, and his best friend Krillin to finish off the giant hairy beast. Somehow, not sure how exactly, Vegeta's tail was cut off and he reverted back to his normal form. Then Gohan's tail grew back."

"Finally Vegeta was beaten, and Goku, not wanting his best friend to become a murderer, let Vegeta leave peacefully in his space pod. Over the next three or so months, Goku healed up, and Bulma, his friend that originally dragged him into looking for the Dragon Balls all those years ago, with some help found the intergalactic spaceship that Kami, the Namekian had arrived to Earth in. Then with Gohan and Krillin, Bulma left to search for Namek, the home world of Kami and Piccolo, hoping that they possessed the technology of the Dragon Balls. Which they did, but unfortunately, the Z fighters weren't the only ones to have heard about the Dragon Ball technology."

"Frieza also had and had personally come to Namek to get his wish of Immortality. Well, after a whole month of traveling and living on Namek, Krillin and Gohan were faced with some tough choices. Apparently Vegeta had recovered earlier than expected and was already on the planet, showing off some new moves the Z fighters had shown him. Then, at the end of the month, Goku in his own spaceship built by Bulma's father, arrived on the planet just in time to save Vegeta, Gohan, and Krillin from being killed by Frieza's executioner squad, the Ginyu Force. Goku defeated the flunkies with absolute ease, and even had fun doing it. Then after some minor trouble with the Ginyu force's leader, Goku was placed into a healing chamber by Vegeta and the others, which would have him completely healed in 72 hours."

"Unfortunately, they still had to deal with Frieza. While Vegeta was sleeping, Gohan and Krillin, along with a young Namekian healer named Dende they had made friends with, called the Dragon of the planet Namek and made their first two wishes, that all the fighters killed in Vegeta's assault were brought back to life, and then that Piccolo would be transported to Namek. Before they could make the final wish however, the ruler of the Namek's, the maker of the first Dragon Balls, died, prematurely I might add. And so the dragon and the balls disappeared."

"So that left Gohan, Krillin, and an enraged Vegeta to face Frieza, with Piccolo on the other side of the planet making it there as fast as he could. Apparently Frieza was the declared most powerful warlord in the universe for a reason. He had over three transformations, each which made him ten times stronger than the last. In the end, his power level reached well over five million. At each stage however, Gohan, Krillin, Piccolo who came in at the third stage/second transformation, and then Vegeta fought him every step of the way. Until Goku was released from the healing chamber."

"At first it looked like Goku might actually be as strong as the final form of Frieza, but then when they actually began to fight it out, it became obvious that the ice-cold space monster was just playing with the Saiyan from Earth. So, using his final technique, something called a 'Spirit Bomb', Goku knocked Frieza down and out with it, but that didn't quite destroy the monster. No, it only made him madder. So, when the dust settled from the chunk of the planet that was taken out, Frieza, not saying a word, just standing there, killed Krillin in the blink of an eye before Goku and the rest. Enraged to a point beyond description, Goku transformed. Not into the ape monster, but for the first time in over ten thousand years of Saiyan heritage, Goku was the first Super Saiyan in existence."

"Then, Super Saiyan Goku and Frieza fought it out, Goku not only keeping up but giving Frieza a run for his money. Then King Kai, the big guru that had trained Goku on the Other Side, came up with a plan. With Piccolo and Kami alive and Kami back on Earth, the Earth Dragon Balls were active once more. So King Kai had the Earth dragon revive all the people that Frieza had killed, which included the maker of the original Dragon Balls. So the Namekian Dragon, having one more wish to fulfill, awoke on the planet Namek. Goku then had Dende wish that everyone on the Planet Namek, except for Goku and Frieza would be transported to Earth. That left the two godlike warriors to finish it once and for all."

"In the end, Frieza was cut into several big chunks, and Goku barely escaped the exploding planet in a space pod. A year later, Goku shows back up, in the exact spot that a stranger named Trunks said he would arrive in. Trunks was from the future, and had come back to warn Goku of his death and two androids that would destroy the world. You see, Trunks was also a Super Saiyan, meaning he was at least part Saiyan. Half-Saiyan it seemed, since he was Vegeta's son. But also Bulma's son too. Anyway, skipping a whole lot of history that you might actually fall asleep hearing, Goku had one more son, Goten, and Vegeta a daughter after Trunks. Oh, they did stop the Androids. Goten had three kids of his own, two sons and a daughter. Trunks had two daughters, and Gohan one daughter, first born, and one son. Goten's daughter had two sons of her own, the eldest of which had a son himself. Trunks' youngest daughter had one child, a daughter. This daughter also had one son, but with the eldest son of Gohan's daughter. I'm that son. Reason I say it like this is because both my parents were killed when I was very young, so I never got to know them. People say that I look just like my Great Grandfather, as well as my Great great Grandfather." Goku finished running his fingers through his large spiky black hair. "I don't really see it, to be honest."

After he was finished, there was total silence in the large domed room. After several minutes, Buffy finally broke the silence. "Wow," she muttered in awe. "So you're the great great grandson of your Earth's greatest hero? And you're named after him? Talk about having big shoes to fill."

Goku shrugged, "I've done OK I guess. Coming to the Compound definitely helped out in a lot of regards. But in the end, I guess the original Goku had accomplished the most, even though by this point I've lived nearly twice as long as he ever did. Which is why I stay here a lot of the time now. There's just nothing to do on my world. That's the way it is with most of the experienced warriors here. After they win enough Tournaments, they gather enough respect that they can have their entire Universe monitored for anything big, bad, or major and they can get there immediately to take care of it. After a while, the bad guys just stop trying, you know?"

Buffy shrugged herself and replied, "Not really. It's almost like every week I've got a new big bad to take down, and every other week another Apocalypse to stop. You know?" she added sarcastically.

Goku grinned and just said, "Give it a few years. Just give it a few years."

Buffy just shook her head and yawned unexpectedly. "Tired?" Goku asked. Buffy glared.

"Well whether you are or not, you all have exactly five hours to sleep, because in six hours, training begins. I'll be back to wake you all up and help you get ready for the day, but the only advice that I'm giving right now, is sleep. You can talk about everything later, since that's what most groups do when they first get here. Talk about it. Because of taking up so much time today, we wasted a good portion of the day, meaning less time to sleep, and really _sleep_. Believe me, from personal experience, if you don't get enough sleep you'll be miserable and exhausted halfway through the first training session. So please, just get some sleep," Goku begged as he stood up and went to the MTC.

Buffy got up with him and followed him to the red portal. "All right Goku, we get the hint. We'll call it a night. By the way what time is it anyway?" she asked.

Goku hesitated before entering his coordinates. Turning to her, "Uh, that would take way too long to explain right now. But tomorrow, OK?"

Buffy nodded, and then leaned forward and hugged the taller warrior good night. "Good night Goku," she whispered. He held her but a brief moment before whispering back, "Good night Buffy. Pleasant dreams."

Then he set the coordinates, and disappeared through the glowing red circle. Buffy watched after him for a moment or two, and then turned back, appraisingly to her 'team'. "Well?" she asked quiet enough that they could still hear her.

"Well what?" Xander asked dumbly.

"Do we sleep, do we talk, or do we try and back out of this?" Buffy put forth.

The other three sat there, understanding what she was asking of them, and exchanged glances between them. Finally Willow answered for all of them, including Buffy, by answering with around a yawn, "We sleep, and try to do our absolute best to keep up with whatever it is that we're supposed to do."

Accepting this as final nomination, vote, and written law, they all got up and went to the rooms that they had come out of. They each had already set their 'locks' for their individual rooms, though with each it was unique. Willow going for DNA, Xander going for human-level motion, and Giles doing what Buffy had done, voice activation. Though his open code was somewhat more…unusual than her simple word of "Open". Giles opened his door with, "Foris" and then Buffy heard him mutter another word, "Occludo" which then closed the door.

Buffy put it out of her mind as she made her way to her bed, the door closing behind her, and as soon as she managed herself under the sheets and her head firmly to a pillow, she was fast asleep, dreaming of tomorrow.


	3. The First Day

**The First day:**

She felt so nice and warm, relaxed and safe. Like floating in the womb or on a cloud. And then arms wrapped around her in a loving embrace. Soft lips whispered in a loving sound, "I'll always be with you. Always."

She took a gasping breath to answer, but a much louder, harsher sound suddenly intruded upon the pleasant and comforting dream.

"RISE AND SHINE!!! RISE AND SHINE!!!!!" was belted out with such volume that the permanent fixtures shook with vibration.

Buffy bolted straight awake, her body tense, ready for anything. Vampires, please! Demons, no sweat! Her mother waking her for school? OK that might be a problem, but still she could handle it, maybe. Finally, after having shot out of the large bed like a cannon ball, Buffy realized where she was and what she was doing.

Blushing and semi-glad that no one was there to see her reaction; Buffy relaxed, only to jump at the next bellow, "RISE AND SHIIIIIINNNE!!!!!!!" Slowly she deduced where the offending sound was coming from. The living room.

"Open," Buffy commanded harshly. The doors slid open, just in time for Buffy to get blown back by the wind of the next call out, so loud that nothing could have understood it. She saw Goku standing in the middle of the large room with an annoying grin on his face. He was filling his lungs for another call when the other three doors opened simultaneously. Seeing that he was still going to yell, Buffy picked up the katana that she had gotten yesterday, removed it without thinking and then threw it straight at the 1/8th Saiyan. Seeing the blade moving straight at his head, Goku decided not to yell again, choosing instead to dodge the flying blade and catching it by the hilt with his right hand.

"Nice throw," he commented, calmly rotating it on his wrist.

Buffy, her hair tussled, her posture more tense than an angry panther, and her expression alone would've melted the skin and muscles from Goku's bones if it could have. Buffy stalked forward, and not even thinking, grabbed back her sword, and solidly punched Goku across the jaw. "WHAT the _HELL_ do you THINK you are _**DOING!!!!!**___" she screamed at the top of her lungs, not even close to matching whatever bellow he was shouting earlier.

Goku grinned that same annoying pitiful smile he seemed to have reserved just for Buffy, and answered, "Waking you up for your first day of Training."

Everyone stared in complete disbelief at him. "What?" Buffy exclaimed, completely exasperated. Goku just grinned and held up his Global, which he had told them was what the advanced palm pilot was called. On it, displayed in very large red numbers was the time. 5:59:57...58…59… and then as soon as the time changed to 6:00 AM, every light in the place turned to the brightest intensity and some of them began to strobe, while a loud whine sounded out for approximately thirty seconds, and then turned into an even louder whine that sounded more like a train than anything else.

Everyone except Goku had their hands over their ears, and he was actually smiling. "GOKU!!" Buffy shouted, or tried to, over the brain melting sound. Goku quirked an eyebrow and looked her way, indicating that he had indeed heard her. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING **ON!!!!**" she screamed, the ON!! part being shouted just as the overwhelming noise cut out and the lighting went back to normal.

Goku continued to grin as they all looked around in confusion and let their hands away from their ears, not entirely trusting the silence. Finally, Goku decided to answer Buffy's question.

"That," he paused, pointing to the ceiling in general, "was the wake up call. The entire Compound is on the same time zone, so everybody gets woken up at the same time. When everybody in the apartment is awake, it cuts out, but not before. When you shouted, it was loud enough for the room's computer to be convinced that everyone was awake. I decided to get to you first. It's hell waking up to that thing. If you don't wake up by level two, which was what you stopped it at, it only gets louder and way too annoying."

As they all accepted this, Buffy just nodded and thanked him, but before she could completely vocalize, the lights over the bar area that everybody had assumed to be some kind of breakfast or bar area, correctly by the way, suddenly lit up and four plates of food suddenly appeared out of thin air.

"Better hurry," Goku advised. "You get thirty minutes to eat. Period. Whether you're through or not, at the end of thirty minutes, that food disappears. No exceptions. Go on, I've already eaten, and you all have a _very_ busy day, as I'm sure some of you no doubt remember."

Buffy blanched and nodded and could not have made it faster to the seat that she noticed had a gold embroidered lining, and a small stenciled name just this side of the steaming plate of blueberry pancakes. Noticing that they were already soaked in the absolute best maple syrup that she had ever tasted, she took several bites and swallows before turning to see Goku sitting in one of the recliners looking at something on his Global.

"This is great, Goku! But how did you people know what we eat for breakfast?" Willow asked. Before the 1/8th Saiyan could answer, Buffy added, "Yeah, I mean, blueberry pancakes are like my favorite breakfast, ever since I was a kid. How'd you, or rather the computer replicator thingie, know that?"

Goku shrugged and without looking at them said two words, "The Powers."

Unsurprisingly, that actually did answer all of their questions on the matter. While Buffy was having the best blueberry pancakes that she had ever conceived, the others had their own favorite morning meals. Xander was also having pancakes, but they were more of the regular variety with strawberry jam to smear over them instead of syrup. Willow, strangely, was having orange and pineapple flavored grits, and everyone somehow expected Giles to have some kind of typical 'English breakfast', but to everyone's shock, save the two kids that brought them there, his favorite meal seemed to be McDonald's ham scrambled egg and mozzarella cheese biscuit, x 3. All of them were finished in just under fifteen minutes. As soon as they were, the empty plates, utensils and glasses disappeared in a sparkling green effect, then a green light shown over each "place mat."

"Still hungry?" Goku asked from his seat.

"Not really to be honest," Buffy muttered, having filled herself with the delicious meal. Similar sentiments were echoed across the board.

"Then say aloud, and all of you, 'Not hungry anymore,' Simplistic, I know, but it still works." Goku explained to them. They repeated the command phrase and the green lights disappeared.

Taking this as cue that breakfast was over, they each stood up, waiting for any kind of instructions, having absolutely no clue what to do next. Goku spent maybe a minute more looking over whatever he was reading on his Global, and then closed it and stood up to appraise them. He nodded his head in slight approval and ordered them to pick up the packages (minus Buffy and Xander's swords, which they were still holding) they had picked up yesterday and to open them in their respective rooms. Then to "get ready" for the day, which included a shower and getting dressed.

Buffy walked into her room carrying the two plastic wraps and the box that was somewhat bulky, more like a large foot locker than a normal cardboard box of any size. Kind of flattened, but not really. She decided to open this first, and it took her a moment or two to work it out. Finally she read the print that said, (in another and altogether alien language that she found she now understood despite reading it as said language), "MODEL 5: Parts 3 & 4" and a switch just beneath it that she understood said, "Press to Open." So she did.

When it opened with a strangled hiss, like an airlock opening, she found that she could now lift the lid. What made her stare though was what she saw on the inside. Folded, almost neatly was a liquid-vinyl-like material "leather jacket" style jacket and two, what looked like, heavy black leather work boots. "What the…?" she said aloud.

Shrugging, she turned to the two wrapped packages. After ripping apart the plastic, which came apart easier than she had expected it to, in the smaller one she found three sets of a kind of black spandex leotard/one piece swimsuit. She also noted, that if they had been swimsuits, they would be the kind that were made for swimming, as there was nothing low-cut or at all revealing about them in the slightest. Pure functionality. "Hunh," she grunted, putting them on top of the jacket, which she had taken out and laid on the bed.

In the last package she found, again three pair, gi-style black, with the same liquid-vinyl material, pants. She sized them up against her waist and was mildly surprised to see that they almost fit perfectly, leaving enough room to freely move without bunching up or getting in the way, and not at all too tight. She also noticed that the primary color seemed to be a favored black. Shrugging, and assuming, since the drawers in the dresser were completely empty, that these were her training clothes, she grabbed one pair of the leotard and the pants and went to take her shower in the bathroom.

Inside the bathroom, Buffy found a pretty basic, if not spacious, design. A somewhat typical porcelain, or at least that's what it felt like, toilet, and an entire bar/counter with the metal sink, which had that sensor thingy that turns the water on and off, in the center of it. Surprisingly, the mirror, compared to the size of the counter was rather small, just a three foot tall round bureau mirror with straight laced polished metal edges. In fact the entire room had that effect, almost like it was too clean, or very sterile and metallic.

The floor thankfully was carpeted with the same material, and the walls the same curved smooth gray color with absolutely no outstanding decoration. And then she turned her attention to what could only be the shower. Only it wasn't. A shower anyway. Neither was it a bath nor any other type of cleaning area that Buffy was familiar with. Just past the toilet, to the right of it when sitting actually, was an alcove into the smooth wall. Aside from the counter/sink, the toilet and the paper dispenser next to it, and the glass door, it was the only break in the gray dome. Inside the alcove was a square of patterned tiles on the floor, and three long glass panels that could have been vertical fluorescent lights, one on each wall, which was squared off into corners by the way. The ceiling held a large circular fluorescent-like looking light, and that was all. All of the lights however, for the moment, were off so Buffy, not entirely trusting what she had seen of "Compound" technology so far, wasn't so sure.

Finally, feeling that she was wasting time, Buffy called Goku into her room, just as he was leaving Giles' by coincidence. Entering after her, Goku proceeded to the bathroom and waited for Buffy to join him before revealing a panel hidden right next to the alcove. In it was several settings. Rather than say anything or explain it, he just pointed to the settings that he was manipulating, making sure that she saw him setting it for; 'Vocal', 'Shower On', and 'Shower Off'. Marking the setting of how the shower was to be activated, and which phrase activated it, and which turned it off again. Then he left, expecting to walk straight into Willow's room once he was out of Buffy's.

Shaking her head, Buffy closed the doors behind Goku, grateful that he had helped, yet a little miffed in the way he had done it, but she could understand why... somewhat. So with that out of the way, and trusting these people to have her shower set the way she liked it, as they seemed to do that with just about everything else, Buffy stripped and made ready to step directly into the shower without it "warming up" first.

What surprised Buffy first was that as soon as she dropped her shirt and pants to the floor, they seemed to simply be absorbed into the floor, which left her with just her training clothes. Hoping that wouldn't happen with all of the dirty clothes she dropped on the floor, Buffy stepped into the alcove and briefly wondered about water being sprayed on the outside, but seeing they had an absorbing floor, not to mention probably some kind of a force field that held it all inside, (which they did, but it wasn't the water it was holding inside), Buffy didn't worry too long over it.

Stepping inside, Buffy wondered briefly where the water would be coming from before saying clearly, "Shower On," and she found out. As soon as the words left her mouth, Buffy felt more than saw an energy force field come alive in the opening of the alcove. It looked like nothing was there, no lights, no crackling energy, no nothing. But the smell and feel of ionized air was unmistakable.

Surprised, Buffy didn't even have time to react before the "shower" actually started. The four lights suddenly came on, a soft bluish vibrating color, and a sharp high pitched humming whine filled the air. Buffy didn't know what was happening, but she suddenly felt very afraid. Everywhere the light hit her body, she vibrated; skin, muscles, bones, even the very atoms of her body vibrated. It was like standing next to a pounding stereo at a party, except this was much more intense and focused. _So_ much more intense and focused. Just standing there for a minute or so, Buffy began to notice something else. She was beginning to actually "feel" clean. But that humming whine was starting to give her a headache and the strange light was only adding to it. Closing her eyes helped some, but when she tried to cover her ears, that only gave her a headache that much quicker. And that of course is when things start to go screwy.

After five minutes of the blue light treatment, they suddenly begin to shift to green, and as they do so, the high-pitched whine becomes even more so until Buffy no longer hears it as a humming whine, but as a very annoying and audible dog whistle. As for the sensations of the body, the vibrating molecules suddenly are switched into turbo and her skin _is_ actually vibrating. Not to mention her hair and…other things.

As weird as it all was, Buffy wasn't about to deny how pleasant it still was. And pretty soon the vibrations began to take a more interesting effect on her. Buffy rarely ever let herself get this worked up this early in the day, but seeing as she was on a time limit, she really saw masturbating in the shower as a real bad idea. Yet she wasn't exactly the one doing it.

Wanting to end this before it could go any further, Buffy gave the command, "Shower Off," but she couldn't hear her own voice. Only that incessant whine. She tried again, and she knew she was saying something, she just couldn't hear it. Nothing but that god-awful whine that was coming from the lights. She kept trying, shouting even, but that only seemed to get her even more worked up.

When the light hit an almost emerald green, Buffy could barely stand it anymore, let alone remain standing. She tried to just walk out of the alcove, but the force field prevented her, sparking every time and everywhere she touched it. It didn't really hurt, aside from the initial shock, but when she placed her hand evenly on the field, it still sparked but it felt more like leaving your hand on a vibrator. It certainly didn't help with what she was trying to avoid doing.

Buffy's breaths began to come in ragged gasps as the vibrations of the lights and the force field, which she was leaning her back against, provided so much stimulation that she was on the literal edge. Her skin, her breasts, her nipples, hell, even her tiny little hairs were receiving so much fiery sensation and stimulation that just one more push or two more minutes and she'd be screaming on the floor. She decided to help herself along since she was at the point of either cumming or dying, and she brought up her right hand, and pinched her left nipple as hard as she could.

The resulting scream was loud enough to be heard even above the whine. Unfortunately, that just caused the lights to begin to shift back to blue, or maybe purple, she couldn't really tell from the sudden lack of energy from what had to be one of the best orgasms she had ever had in her young life. She almost slumped to the floor, but she managed to keep her footing, just.

Usually after cumming that hard, or even getting that worked up, Buffy had felt dirty, sweaty, and like she needed a shower or something. Now, she was clean as soon as the sweat and juices touched her outer skin. She suddenly suspected that she was going to like her showers from now on. If she could ever get out of the first one.

Finally, after only ten minutes of green light, the high-pitched whine lowered some and Buffy found that she could hear herself speak, but again just barely. She commanded one more time, "Shower Off!" and almost immediately, the whine stopped, the lights turned off, and the force field sparked one final time to indicate that it was gone. After fifteen minutes of that high-pitched whine in her ears, Buffy's ears were still ringing a little and it took her a moment or so to get herself steadied before stepping out of the alcove, cleaner than the day after she was born.

The blonde Slayer just shook her head, clearing out the buzzing she still had and put on the leotard and the pants. She then went out to her bedroom, surprised a little to see the packages still laying around, after seeing the vacu-floor with her pajamas. She put on the boots next, even though there were no socks, and laced them up before grabbing the jacket and sword, putting them on, and heading out to the living room, where unfortunately everyone else was waiting for her.

"Uh, hey guys," she greeted sheepishly. "Sorry I took so long, but I, uh…I, uh, kinda had to figure out the shower portion of the shower. Sorry."

"Ah, no worries Buff, we all had some trouble, but Goku helped us out with the finer mechanics of a very relaxing, "_Sonic Shower"_. From the way Will's been blushing since she stepped out, I'm kinda guessing that both of yours were a bit more…interesting?" Xander grinned roguishly as the innuendo worked its way through Buffy's brain.

Buffy immediately fixed the teenage boy with a "Slayer Death Glare", he gulped audibly and then took several steps so that Giles and Goku were between him and the angry Slayer. Finally she let it go and turned to Willow, who was blushing that much more from Xander's comments. Buffy made eye-contact with her friend and asked, "I, uh, take it that you had some…fun?…in the shower too?"

Willow just furiously nodded and then sat down, thoroughly embarrassed now. It was at this point that Buffy noticed what everyone was wearing and came to a startling revelation. She, Xander, and Goku, (And Giles to a lesser degree) were all dressed practically identical.

All three of them wore the same black liquid-vinyl, from the look and feel of it, jacket that was devoid of ornament or graphic design. Yet stylized like your typical "movie" leather jackets with the full sleeves, black material down to just below the waist, past Buffy's waist, and a sharp collar that seemed to like staying in the "Elvis" fashion. Both men were wearing their jackets, so while she could not tell easily, she imagined that both were wearing tank tops of the same material her leotard was made out of. They all covered the same amount of chest, except maybe Goku's, his seemed to be cut so that it was mid-chest region on him, while Buffy and Xander's were a few centimeters below their collarbones. As far as the pants and boots went, they were completely identical. Buffy also noted that Xander was already wearing his sword, over his right shoulder like Goku, while she still only held hers at her side for the moment.

Meanwhile Giles and Willow each wore something rather unique. Giles was the closest to what the others wore, with gi-style black vinyl pants and heavy black work boots. That was where the similarities ended however because he was actually wearing a belt and while he did have a black shirt on, she could tell that it was a T-shirt rather than the tank tops like Goku and Xander wore. Also, his jacket seemed to be somewhat sleeker, and a faded brown leather rather than liquid black of theirs. She also noticed that her's, Xander's, and possibly (she wasn't exactly sure) Goku's jackets had thick shoulder pads, whereas Giles' didn't. And of course he still had on his spectacles, though she hoped he would take them off before the actual fighting portion of training began.

Willow was without a doubt the farthest from what the others wore. The best way to describe it was a jumpsuit. It was black, which Buffy had noted was the chosen color for the day, but with patches of silver/gray where the pockets were. She had pockets over each breast, one on the left shoulder, and another on the right elbow, and of course the usual pockets for pants, at the waist on both sides and each buttock. Buffy saw that she also had kneepads.

After inspecting everybody's wardrobe, Buffy turned back to Goku, and raised her eyebrows in question. Thinking she was still on the shower issue, before she could speak Goku said, "The, ah, the showers aren't exactly the showers you might be used to. These showers are based on the theory that certain harmonics and sound waves can be used to dissolve and dissipate certain molecules, specifically unattached dirt, grime, and dead skin on the body. It's been safely modified so that it causes absolutely no internal damage of any kind, brain or otherwise. Though, I'll be the last to deny that having vibrations coming at you from all sides does... elicit certain…reactions."

Buffy just kept staring at him, grateful for the little lesson, but it wasn't what she'd been about to ask. Then she motioned around the room at the others, and then at herself and raised her eyebrows once more, indicating the silent question. Goku then figured it out pretty quick.

"Oh, the uniforms? Well, that's kinda required. Mostly because of the materials, not to mention it's better than what people tend to normally wear," Goku explained.

"What I'm wearing, along with Xander, is the basic humanoid male uniform. It's called the Model Five. And it is basically what you see. The shirt, or basic tank top is made out of a near indestructible polymer based material, woven in such a way that nothing short of raw star plasma, or something worse or more powerful could smudge it, let alone tear or vaporize it. The pants are styled for freedom of movement when fighting, as well as made of the same material, yet the weave isn't quite as strong as the shirts. The boxers, also made out of the same material, are pretty much just that, boxers. The boots are weighted, and they also have a bit of technology in them that can be beneficial when training here in the Compound. When in training, the boots use a variation of graviton-manipulation technology. What that means is, that normally these boots weigh about two to three kilos, but when out on the gym floor, or in a training room, depending on your regimen, they may end up weighing more than twelve tons."

Goku paused, letting them absorb that much information. After several moments of total silence, not to mention enormous relief pouring off of Willow, who was just wearing some simple rain boot style boots, Goku continued. "And finally there's the jacket. It is made out of the strongest woven material that absolutely anybody knows about. I honestly don't think that, short of the Powers or some other thing just simply erasing them from existence, anything could possibly destroy one of these jackets. But it's more than just the material. It's multi-layered and even magically enchanted for various…things. I don't really know them all, since I don't know if it's possible for someone to go through them all. Of the ones I do know, and appreciate the most, the jackets are self-cleaning, they can't stain, tear, rip, or even get scuffed. They can survive bombs, guns, and nuclear explosions at point blank range and everything in between and beyond. And, if it's possible, they can kind of protect anyone beside you, or that you're holding close. If you're like me, you might one day really appreciate that little aspect. Oh, one last thing, the 'shoulder pads'? They're also graviton-enhancers. Meaning that the jacket can weigh just as much as the boots, and sometimes even more."

"This is what you two will be wearing for the next six weeks. Don't worry about washing, you can wear these things for a hundred days straight, not bathe, and even let a corpse wear it for its funeral and they'll still be fresh. I only got you two backups in case our training actually does ruin them. By the way, it's a guarantee that you will need those backups, and maybe several more. As for Willow, she's a witch and she's going to be studying under two of the four most powerful magic-users in the Multi-verse, let alone the Compound, so chances are even greater that she's going to be blowing stuff up, at times probably even herself, so she will most definitely be requiring almost all of her backups. Oh, and her jumpsuit as well as the leotard underwear are made out of the same material as the jackets, minus the training weights and magical enhancements. Just thought I'd let you know that so you'll have the proper response when you all see her again this afternoon around Lunch, which by the way, is not for at least ten hours, maybe more if you aren't doing some things right."

"To begin with, we'll have a general overview of your schedules and then you'll divide up. Giles, I managed to pull some strings, and you've got the gym on your own today. As I said last night, Buffy and Xander are with me, and Willow will transit over to the 'Mage Tower'. It's the big spire with a sphere on top. It's the most isolated building in the universe, so that's why all of the magic users are trained there. Initially trained anyway. Those that reach a certain level of control can train anywhere the hell they please. So, before your questions, let's just go, and yes Buffy, I'll be with you this time," Goku allayed as he noticed the brief show of mistrust flicker across her features. The Slayer just nodded and waited with the others by the MTC.

Yet when Goku came up behind them all, he just stood and stared at Buffy. At her returning stare, he exclaimed, "Look, I am not going to be going everywhere you are going every time you go through one of these. The sooner that you all learn how to use them, the better. I've already shown you how to basically operate it. Now, we're going to here," and he held out his open Global with the coordinates highlighted.

Buffy read it, nodded and stepped forward and placed her right hand on the black plate, she felt a small tingle in the back of her head and saw a green line run down the black plate, scanning her palm, or DNA, or finger prints or whatever. Then the circle began to glow, and in a calm clear, and rather loud voice, Buffy shouted the coordinates. "Main Gym! 2nd floor! Private Training Area Section 41: Alpha! Authorization…uh, Goku!"

Behind her, Goku groaned and put his hand over his eyes. She might have gotten the authorization wrong, but it didn't really matter since about a second after she finished speaking, a large, obviously holographic, due to it's transparency and the occasional flicker of static, eye appeared that stared at each of them in turn. Buffy didn't remove her hand, too afraid to move. After it had looked at each of the fighters, Goku shrugging at it when it turned to him, it just "blinked" a couple times, or rather it was covered with static for the same amount of time that a blink lasts, and then it disappeared and the circle began to glow, with it's destination chosen.

Buffy was about to say how many would be traveling, but Goku came up and grasped her shoulder, pulling her away from the plate and said, "Never mind now. The authorization was your codename. From here on in, that's all the authorization you'll need, unless you're somewhere you aren't supposed to be, say like the nuclear reactor that runs the power to this building."

"Oh," Buffy muttered sarcastically, "thanks for the heads up by the way."

"You're welcome," Goku responded, stepping through, followed by Xander, Giles, and Willow, who gave Buffy a sympathetic look before she stepped through also. Shrugging, and just accepting that it was going to be one of those days, Buffy followed her friends and Trainer.

When they all came out on the other side, it was hard for any of them to be impressed. The room was little more than four equidistant domed lights, the MTC, and them. The rest of the room was just solid gray walls. It was like being on the inside of a matchbox, except there's no sliding out of it. The floor at least was padded, enough to cushion light blows, and to protect the floor from cracking or breaking or whatever, while the walls and ceiling just looked like plaster, they all suspected that it was reinforced with a force field, thereby making it even tougher than reinforced steel.

"OK, I'll bite, where are we?" Buffy asked the Trainer.

Goku just shrugged and turned to face the black, and brown in Giles' case, clad group. "This is our personal Training Gym. We meet here first, every morning, and we meet here everyday right after lunch, and we meet here every evening just before you turn in, for what I like to call our "night time sessions". You are allowed to come here on your own, provided you've got nothing else you have to do. As much as you all _do_ have to do, there will be instances of free time, where you can either choose to lay around and get lazy, or you could get in a few more training hours. That I'll leave up to you. This first week, and maybe next week, you will have no free time. Understood?"

There were silent nods of acceptance from the four. Not liking the silence, Goku asked, "Questions, comments?" Willow raised her hand, smiling at the hilarity of it, Goku nodded at her. "Uh, what do we do?" she asked like it was an obvious question but everybody had avoided asking it for that simple reason.

"Well, today, I'm going to show you some basic moves. Basic for me anyway. By the time we're finished you'll be able to do it as well, but for right now I'll only be demonstrating, and then we'll divvy up, 'kay?" Goku answered, moving to the center of the room.

"Divvy up?" Buffy asked, confused.

"Well I told you that you and Xander would train under me, and Giles and Willow would be trained elsewhere. But I'm not planning on doing that for at least another hour or so, so let me get started with the demonstrating, and then I can let Willow go and give Giles his surprise." Goku explained. "And so that you guys can get used to using those energy senses I tried to teach you yesterday, I'll do it as a Super Saiyan. If that's OK with you Slayer?"

Buffy just shrugged as the others stood patiently by, waiting for the light show to begin. They didn't have to wait long as Goku immediately transformed into a Super Saiyan. Buffy, just as immediately, felt the pangs in her gut and rubbed it sympathetically, but managed to keep her breakfast down. Goku then began to levitate until he was in the exact center of the room. He stayed there for a moment or two, in a mid-air horse stance, before beginning his routine.

Without moving any other molecule of his body, he began punching the air with his left fist, so fast and so many times that they could all feel the breeze from the punches and saw it as little more than lines of movement and a slight blur from his arm. After maybe a thirty seconds, where he executed no less than several hundred flawless straight-arm punches, he switched arms and proceeded for the rest of the minute with that arm in the same fashion.

Without losing a beat, when he finished with his right arm, his left arm rejoined the exercise and he suddenly resembled a statue of Shiva, the six-armed Hindu god of war as he continued so fast that it looked like he had as many arms himself. His punches and strikes took on more intricate patterns until everyone stared at him in awe and amazement. His entire body was straight and still as a statue's frame, his arms were little more than blurs and after-images, which was one of the most amazing things that they saw about the man before them.

After another minute of arm and punch exercises, Goku suddenly stopped moving completely. The sudden shift startled those that had become hypnotized by his "warm-up", Buffy just narrowed her eyes in curiosity at what would happen next while the others continued to stare in amazement.

The Super Saiyan smiled as he prepared his next trick, and when he suddenly flew straight at them with little more warning than that, Buffy reacted on instinct, diving to knock Willow and Giles out of the way, and Xander dove the other way. The other two teenagers yelled at the surprise move before everyone realized that Goku had just flown straight into the wall behind them, only to rebound off of it and then onto the opposite wall. From there he ricocheted around the room at random, and at some points faster than any eye could follow. While he was mid-air at some points he would shoot off several more punches, strikes, or kicks, all at speeds that made it look like little more than movement lines.

Finally, apparently having finished his warm up for the day, Goku reappeared in the middle of the room, still a few feet from the ground, and waited for the others to get back on their feet. Once they were, he returned to normal and then dropped the rest of the way to the ground, and walked up to them. "Well?" he asked when he got to them.

They all stared at him in disbelief. "You-you're saying that we'll be able to do…_all_ of that?!! All of us?" Buffy stuttered. Goku just nodded.

"All right!" Xander exclaimed. "Dead boy, eat your heart out!"

"Dead boy?" Goku asked, amused but mostly confused.

"Uh, he means Angel." Buffy explained. "Uh, he's sort of my boyfriend, and sometimes he helps me out on patrol and fighting the really big nasties. He's also a vampire. But with a soul, so that, uh…kinda makes him good…I guess."

Goku grimaced at the mention of the souled vampire, and to the others he seemed to be contemplating some major issue that he really didn't want to talk about. So finally he just shrugged his shoulders and muttered, "Oh, what the hell…"

Goku turned to look directly at Buffy and caught her eye. Looking straight at her, and her him, he said as calmly as one could, "Buffy, the Council knows about Angel. And they have kind of set up a rule about him with you. For a _very_ good reason I might add. Nobody has any problem with you dating or seeing Angel, and everybody kind of agrees that you deserve to be happy, but there is a kind of major problem with _Angel_ being happy."

Growing concerned, not to mention a little ticked that yet another Council were setting up rules for her to live by, Buffy asked, "What do you mean?"

Goku sighed. He knew this would be hard, but he never expected it to be _this_ hard. Plus he never expected to actually like his new charges so quickly. It usually took him at least three weeks before he developed any sort of comradery with his trainees. Swallowing his apprehension, he explained to Buffy the finer details of Angel's curse.

"Buffy, Angelus, or Angel as you know him, was one of the worst vampires in the history of vampires, on almost every world. Believe me, Angelus, what Angel was called when he was a regular vampire, was one of the meanest, toughest, and most evil of the vampires of the middle ages. Then, the Romany Gypsies cursed Angelus with his soul. They did it quite simply so that he would suffer throughout eternity for the few crimes that he had committed against them. Not that they were exactly minor crimes. Anyway, there's a loophole on the curse. If Angel ever _stops_ suffering for even a moment, if he has so much as a single moment of pure happiness, then his suffering will stop forever. He will lose his soul and return to being that monster Angelus."

"Wait a minute, you mean that Angel would turn evil?" Willow naively asked.

Goku nodded and looked Buffy in the eye. Finally she asked the question that he was waiting for her to ask. "What exactly do you mean by, 'moment of pure happiness'?"

Goku grinned roguishly and answered rather cryptically, "Well, the same moment of pure happiness that you and Willow had this morning in the shower would suffice, if you catch my drift." She did.

"So you mean…" Buffy stared at the dark-haired Saiyan.

"The rules about your relationship between you and Angel apply purely and only to how it might affect this loophole in the curse. For him, it means no 'happy' or 'ecstasy' drugs. For both of you, it means no marriage and no sex. For you, it means no sex. Of any kind. With him. That about covers the rules." Goku fully explained.

"Oh," Buffy muttered, too numb to really react while trying to absorb this information.

Everyone was rather quiet, learning that an ally and friend had the potential to turn against them. Though for one of them it was the possibility of a dream come true, he did not want it to come at the cost of Buffy's happiness, not to mention all of the damage that the demon Angelus could do to them. All the more reason to get stronger, faster, and more powerful, Xander decided. His eyes shown with fire as he stood taller and turned to Goku, breaking the mood of silence, shock and depression.

"Well OK, Deadboy doesn't get any, that's perfectly fine with me. And he's not evil right now, and probably just coming in from patrol or whatever. Now we're here for a reason, so I say that we get to it and make sure that if on the ever unlikeliness that it does happen, then we'll be able to all handle ourselves. All right?" Xander asked the question generally, but it might as well have been a direct statement to Buffy.

She nodded and turned to Goku, the same fire in Xander's eyes reflected in her own. "Let's do it," she said fiercely.

Smiling, Goku turned the attention back to training. "All right then. Now that the ugly stuff is out of the way, how about we get to the actual training?" he offered. "OK, first thing to note; we will meet here every morning, at this time. Here I will give all of you a few moves that you will practice for whatever time we have here together before Witch and Watcher go to their own areas, and the rest of us work more on the physical conditioning. I'll just be showing you a couple of basic moves, just to get you started, and then you will practice that move until you can do it, and do it as I tell you to do it. Understood?"

Willow raised her hand.

"Yes Willow?" Goku singled her out immediately.

"_Witch _and _Watcher_?" she asked, confused.

Goku grinned and nodded. "Until you get promoted anyway. As for Giles' codename, well, that was kind of the simplest and most obvious name for him, don't you think? Besides, you guys need to get used to having these codenames, so for that purpose, when we are training, I'll be calling you by those names."

"What's yours?" Buffy asked out of the blue.

Goku shrugged, like he didn't really care about it and answered, "_Saiyaman_."

Blinking in confusion for several moments at the strange sounding name, to them anyway, Buffy just stood there for a moment, shrugged, then she just muttered "Oh, OK," ending the conversation before they got any more distracted than they already were.

"All right!" getting their attention, Goku returned to the center of the room and indicated they should join him. "Here's what you're going to be doing for the next hour." Goku then moved into a casual modified horse stance, holding his arms at the ready by his sides. Then with his right hand, he punched the air so that his arm was straight out. Then he stood straight again.

"So get started," he said with a mocking grin.

They all stared in complete disbelief at him. Even Giles had his mouth hanging open in shock. "You have _got_ to be kidding me," Buffy stated in disbelief.

When Goku just shook his head, still grinning, Buffy closed her eyes and took deep breaths, counting to ten. When she was calm enough, she took a step to Goku and looked him in the eye. "When you said you were going to be teaching us the basics, I didn't think it would be _that_ basic!" she told him with a scowl.

Goku continued grinning, if possible it was actually broadening, stood a little taller over the short blonde, and then answered her, "For the next hour Buffy. Yet since you seem to think that it's so easy, I want you to do at least one hundred of those punches, _perfectly_, in the next ten minutes. I'll even spot you five minutes to learn how to do it perfectly."

Buffy realized that she'd been had when she heard that. She would have commented, but fear that he'd increase the punishment just because. "Fine," she hissed glaring him down off his high horse. She turned and glared at the others, and they all knew that they'd be right there with her.

Getting back to her place in the lineup, Buffy positioned herself identically to what Goku had shown them, and then taking a deep breath she punched the air so that her right arm was straight out, and then quickly withdrew her arm to her side and then punched the air again. She kept a steady pace, to the near amazement of everyone in there, save Goku. Five minutes along, she had counted her punches to at least fifty-nine and she showed absolutely no signs of slowing.

Goku cleared his throat, causing Buffy to pause for a moment to look at him. He glanced at all the others and they immediately got into variations of a similar stance. He sighed. Turning to Buffy, "Start over. Count it on the withdrawal and when you get to one hundred, ten minutes or not, switch to the other arm. This is what's known as a _kata_. Keeps you from destroying your bodies before we can make you stronger and instills some basic skills that we can quickly build off of."

Buffy nodded, understanding, and started counting and punching all over again. It took her just under seven minutes to finish. With both arms

Of the other three normal humans, Giles was the closest in skill, yet he was still far from perfect, so Goku started with him. He caught the hints quickly and was soon moving as well as Buffy. He had to stop at fifty to catch his breath, and then started over. Xander was the next to worst, but he also caught on quick, plus he didn't need to pause every fifty punches or so.

Willow was the worst, completely unused to physical exertion like this, and Goku was glad that Buffy had finished and decided to help with her. It took a lot of understanding on both their parts, not to mention a small booster speech from Buffy, but soon all of the others were doing as well as Buffy could. Once they had all done at least one hundred each, without pause, Goku decided to move on to the next move. Kicking.

And so it went for the whole hour. Buffy often finishing early with however many exercises Goku told them to do and helping teach Willow the finer little tricks she had learned. By the time that the team was scheduled to split up, they'd only just finished with the kata.

"All right, it's about time for you to go Willow, but before we split up I just want to run through a quick stretching routine that I want all of you to do before you work out, no matter what. Even if it's a fight. It's a nearly perfected technique so that you have absolutely no soreness, save what is caused by injury, after the fight or the next morning and so your muscles can grow correctly." Goku explained. He then went through the stretching technique himself, pointing out the finer points as Buffy perfectly mirrored him and the others struggled along. Willow actually enjoyed the stretching, as much as it hurt, she could feel her muscles loosening up, allowing her a slight sense of relaxation.

After they were done, a beeping sound was heard, and Goku stopped everything to pull out his Global and open it. It was the source of beeping, and when he opened it up a voice that spoke in nothing resembling English came from it, but they all still understood it. "_Goku! Witch is scheduled for her training period at the Mage Tower in fifteen minutes, and we have the "item" that you requested for Watcher._"

Goku grinned and nodded and answered to whoever it was, "Great. Set the coordinates for her, and transport the "item" in. Thanks a bunch Barf!" Everyone started at the name, mostly because of what the name meant in English, second because it was the name that he had asked 'Ralph' about, the octopus thing that had gotten them their supplies and training uniforms yesterday. Nobody said anything though, as the MTC immediately started glowing and there was a large flash of light and a large sheath-covered broadsword appeared just above Goku's head. He easily caught it as it fell.

"See you this afternoon Willow." Goku grinned at her. At seeing her hesitation, Goku comforted her, "Don't worry Willow. Just do what you feel is right, and don't piss anybody off. Don't worry, I have confidence in you and so does everyone else here. I'm sure that you'll do just fine."

Smiling at the pep talk, Willow nodded and went over to the MTC. She turned around to face everybody just before entering the glowing red portal. She smiled shyly, waved and said in parting to everyone, "Wish me luck!" Then she faced the portal, silently gulped to herself and stepped through, the echoes of everyone's "Good Luck!" at her back. And then she was gone.

Once Willow was gone and the red circle had stopped glowing, Buffy felt an odd, cold unpleasant feeling crawl up from her gut. Her best friend, her only _real_ girl friend since coming to Sunnydale, had only been gone for a single second and she was already missing her so much that it hurt. Here they were in a completely unknown situation, in a completely unknown place with no knowledge of how they got there, nor how to get home, and told that they were going to be half-killed in their training to be strong enough to fight demons and monsters that she never wanted to face in the first place! And how was she supposed to _protect_ Willow if she couldn't be _with_ Willow?

Buffy then saw that the men had noticed the expression on her face, which the moment Willow stepped through the portal had been one of pain and loss and intense worry. She observed that Xander just grinned while Goku cocked an eyebrow at her and Giles simply gave her a look of sympathy. She glared at the lot of them equally, Xander backing down first from experience, and then Goku shortly learning that in such cases nobody but Buffy ever won.

Grateful that he was moving on, Buffy turned her full attention to Goku and the sword that had appeared in his hands, or close enough to them, or above them. Whatever. '_God, one minute without Wills and I'm already resorting to 'babble mode'_, Buffy mused to herself.

Goku turned to Giles, grabbing the older Watcher's attention. Presenting the Englishman the sword, Goku introduced Giles to his new partner, "Giles, allow me to present your 'surprise' that I've been telling you about. This is a mystical blade, one of maybe fifty made in total. The Compound didn't make it or its counterparts; rather we discovered them on various worlds. The blade's name is '_Night Blade_'. You'll understand when you draw it. It's powers, as I've been told and understand it, have mostly to do with the aspects of the night and darkness, or rather lack of light. Nothing evil or anything like that. Actually that may be absolutely nothing close to what it does or is. Only the wielder can ever know all of its secrets, and only if the blade lets the wielder know them all."

Giles raised an eyebrow, not unlike any Vulcan. "'If the _blade lets_ the _wielder_ know them'?" he repeated as a question.

Goku, grinning like Sylvester with Tweety in his mouth, just nodded and explained. "All of the 'Blade' swords are sentient. Each has its own name, its own personality, powers, and abilities. At last count, about thirty or less of the Blades had been claimed and are being used. Now, with you, I think that makes an even thirty or thirty-one. Give or take."

Giles just stared at the sheathed blade being held before him. It was completely wrapped in an undecorated black silk cloth, so Giles had no clue, aside from the length, as to what the '_Blade_' looked like. "If its sentient, does that mean that it chooses its wielder, or that it just gets assigned like so many weapons?" Giles asked out of the blue, with just a hint of anger in the undercurrent of his voice.

Goku's grin lessened to one more suited to one discussing something that he really hated, but still needed to discuss in good spirits. "All of the '_Blades_' are given a choice and are asked when they wish to take on a wielder, and yes it is the Blade that takes on the wielder. When they say they are ready, though none of them actually talk, they are taken from the pocket dimension they are kept in and then one of us Trainers requisitions for any available one and that's what I did. _Nightblade_ here had passed up on three candidates before you, and yes the swords can choose to reject certain people that it does not allow to hold it, and if that happens, usually the Blade tells us which of the other Blades would best be suited to that warrior. I'm hoping that I don't have to go back, because it's literal hell getting through the paperwork to properly requisition one of these guys, though I am told that some of the Blade's personalities are more female in characteristics... But never mind about that. Just, here!"

Seeing that Giles was still hesitating, Goku practically forced the wrapped weapon into his hands. "Come on Giles, as big a responsibility as it sounds, the Blades were made first and foremost to fight evil. Every single one of them. And I'd like you to be the one who unwraps it. The whole 'imprinting' thing and all that," Goku reasoned.

Finally Giles relented and took the silk cloth wrapped sword. Slowly, almost reverently, Giles unwrapped the Blade. The hilt was the first to be uncovered. Giles paused in his unveiling to study it. The bottom of the sword was a large circle, about twice as big as an American half-dollar coin, and at least a centimeter thick, solid black, and a strange and undoubtedly unique symbol etched into both "faces". The hilt itself seemed to be made of an ancient ivory that had once had much use. Etched into the ivory at the four corners of it (i.e. front, back, left side, and right side) were nearly indecipherable Latin runes. Studying them closely, Giles could read them and translated them automatically.

"_**Blade of Night**_"

"_**Force of Aid**_"

"_**Power of Right**_"

"_**Truth of Mind**_"

"Fascinating…" the Librarian muttered as he realized that this was truly a weapon for good, in fact deserving to belong only in a Knight's hand. Unwrapping more, the guard was revealed and then the beginnings of the sheath. The guard was just simply a piece of metal about six centimeters long total, sticking evenly out three centimeters from the hilt on either side and the blade made of the same solid black metal as the bottom of it. It ran even with the blade and was just as thick as the "coin" at the bottom and held a few design tweaks here and there, yet nothing noticeable or outlandish in any sense.

The sheath, as it was revealed slowly by Giles' careful removing of the gift cloth, was a soft light brown leather with a shoulder strap already in place, and also made out of the soft leather. There were two rings of gold on the sheath, one a few centimeters from the mouth of the sheath, and another over four centimeters from the tip.

Giles was absolutely fascinated by the artifact he now held. Even if he had not been told so, he felt that this was a true weapon, a sword meant to be used and not kept locked behind some glass case in a museum, forgotten. No, this was most definitely meant to be used. For battle, for vanquishing evil, for exactly what _all_ it was meant to do, Giles had little idea, but he also felt that he would find out. Soon.

Going with instinct rather than any outside urging, Giles took the pommel of the sheath just beneath the top gold ring with his left hand and slowly, almost reverently once again, placed his right hand around the hilt of the Blade. Taking a deep breath, preparing for the Blade to shock him or something to indicate that it wanted another wielder, and so he slowly tightened his grip. Then he pulled, and to his utter amazement, it slid out almost fluidly and did not shock him or seem to tell anyone that he was not the right wielder of such a magnificent weapon.

Once the mystical Blade was out, it cut the air as Giles held it above his head, kinda like King Arthur when he pulled out Excalibur, Buffy mused. She noticed that Goku was openly grinning at this, and she imagined that Nightblade must have chosen its new wielder.

As the Watcher held Nightblade above him, like some actor's imitation of King Arthur, Giles began to feel something. It was a strange and new feeling, and definitely not unpleasant, but it was not exactly ecstasy either. It felt more like a part of him that he had never been totally aware of was suddenly opening up and attaching itself to the sword that he held above him. Then, like a shock, he realized what part of him that was. He had given it a name a long time ago. In his rebellious college days. _Ripper_.

Yet his control was not slipping, rather it was intensifying and increasing. As though the Blade had taken the rage that was Ripper, his darker half, straight out of him and kept it as its own. And then, in place of Ripper, the Blade gave something back to Giles, a piece of itself. Part of its power and the ability, the capacity to understand the Blade. And Giles now knew what the Blade's power was.

Shaking himself out of the reverie he had been drawn into, Giles lowered the sword and stared at the actual blade part of it. It was a little under two meters long, just less than a hands breadth wide at the base, shortening to a sharp and deadly double-edged tip. It was solid black, but not as though it were absorbing all the light in the room, rather a polished almost glassy solid black. Giles realized that the sword was made out of obsidian, volcanic glass. Yet the way that this sword was crafted, not to mention the fact that it was actually supposed to be used, defied all laws of logic and physics. There had to be very strong magics at work for it to not crack or break during a battle, that or it had to be some of the strongest obsidian that had ever existed and forged in blazes hotter than the core of Earth's sun. For all Giles knew right now, it could have been both.

Nodding in approval all of a sudden, Giles sheathed the Blade and made to place it over his jacket on his back. Goku stopped him. "Take your jacket off first," he said. At Giles' skeptical look, Goku gave him a look that said (as he said it aloud as well), "Trust me." Giles then handed the sheath back to Goku, who held it by the strap while the Watcher removed his brown leather jacket, which he now realized matched the color and material of the sheath and strap of the Blade. He handed the jacket to Buffy, who held it as Giles took back the sheath and then looped it over his head so that he could draw the blade over his right shoulder.

"Now what?" Giles asked their Trainer.

Goku indicated the jacket, and Buffy handed it over. Goku then handed it to Giles who noticed for the first time the slits in the back. One just beneath the right shoulder, and another opposite it on the lower left portion of it. "I see," Giles commented before slipping the jacket back on. Goku then helped in getting the sheath to properly stick out of both ends. It was a nice effect.

"So, uh, now what?" Xander asked, now that the drama was out of the way.

Goku turned to him and answered, "Now the three of us head to the Conditioning gym and get you two started on your strength and endurance training. Giles stays here to start bonding with his new weapon. And before either of you ask, I'm only following the instructions that go with the Blades. Giles, who is now the wielder, has to have time to learn how to use the Nightblade, not to mention its powers, which only he can do. Meaning, we can't be here to interrupt or 'help'."

"Oh," Buffy muttered before turning to Giles, like she was going to give him a hug.

"It's all right Buffy, I'll be fine. Trust Goku and try not to wear him out, all right?" Giles comforted his charge.

At the statement Goku openly grinned and barked out a single laugh. When they turned to glare at him he continued to grin and explained, "Giles, _I _will not be the one to be worn out today. If anything, _Buffy_ will be lucky to be standing long enough to step through the MTC back to your apartment." Xander and Buffy both gulped and began to sweat in buckets. Giles just mirrored Goku's grin.

"Well, off with you then. I trust that you all have a very full schedule." Giles said, ushering them out with an evil grin.

"Oh, we do," Goku added, dragging the two teenagers by the scruffs of their necks, "I'll be by later to bring you out for lunch, which we'll all be sharing at the Movable Mess. I'll be gentle." He added softly to the teens in his hands, and then a second later, the three young people were gone from the private gym and suddenly someplace else.

When Willow appeared in the infamous "Mage Tower", one of the things that she had not been at all expecting was to end up in a place that was furnished and looked exactly like her dentist's office waiting area. Yet that was where she ended up, with the only obvious exits being a closed secretary's window, and the MTC minus the black panel that activated them.

"Uh, am I in the right place?" Willow, nervous, asked aloud to the empty room. Getting no immediate or vocal answer, Willow nervously decided that she had to wait. So she sat down on the couch, which uncharacteristic of the furniture she had seen so far, did not conform to her body, but rather remained more rigid than a brick wall. Thing was, it looked exactly like all the other "leather" material furniture.

Willow sat uncomfortably for several minutes before she began to think about where she had ended up, where she was supposed to be, and what she was there for. Number one, she was in a waiting area designed to look and be comfortable, yet was not. Number two, she was supposed to be in the Mage Tower, the training building for all of those warriors in this tournament that use magic and so forth. And three, she was there to be trained in the use of magic. Logical deduction, from all past examples of "high wizards" that were to receive a new student or such, always, _always_, _always_ tested them with something that could only be solved with A) their wits, B) their brains, and C) magic. And of course the infamous and evil D) All of the above.

Willow decided to skip A and B and went straight for C and D. Doing as Amy had taught her, Willow focused her thoughts inward and cast the simple scrying spell that was the only one she knew. Immediately she saw three things; the entire room was an illusion, there was a door, a real human door just next to the window, and there was a sign above the door with a clock underneath the word EXIT. The clock she surmised was how long she had been in there as it was quite obviously not a true time-keeping device. Then she turned her attention to the MTC and was briefly blinded by what she saw there. Apparently the MTC was a controlled singularity, aka black hole/wormhole/pulsar/hole in space/time. The important thing though was she could see the black panel that controlled the MTC. Unfortunately it was on the opposite side of the room from the Red circle.

Quickly realizing that as soon as her hand left the panel for the MTC it would close, no matter the supposed normal operation of the device, Willow tried to think of a way to keep the portal open long enough for her to race through it from across the room. She quickly came to a possible solution as she went over the list of spells that Amy and her family had taught her. A glamour. Of herself, and the illusion could hold the portal open by sticking its arm through like Goku had done.

Checking the clock and surprised to see that she had already been in the waiting room for ten minutes, Willow hastily gathered the energy she would require for a full glamour double of herself. It was formed, perfectly, within five minutes. When Willow stood, she was surprised that the glamour just stared at her, like a mirror, rather than a robot like she had expected.

Rather than debate on it right now, Willow mentally commanded the glamour to go over and wait by the MTC and when it opened, to stick its arms through. She also added on as an after thought for it to follow her _after_ she went through the portal. She went immediately to where she felt the MTC control panel was and then placed her palm flat against it and said in as clear a voice as she could muster, "Uh…Mage Tower! Arch Mage's Private Office, uh…Authorization Witch-in-training! One…and a half?"

Immediately the red circle started to glow and the glamour put both her arms through it. When she did, the energy of the spell and the energy of the portal began to react slightly, causing the areas directly around the glamour's arms in the portal to glow in white rings. Willow raced as fast as she could from that side of the room to the portal, only to have every single piece of furniture try to get in her way. She jumped on the table, and not entirely trusting the suddenly sturdy looking couch, she jumped over the couch onto the back of one of the chairs putting one of her feet on the top of it and leaning in with most of her weight, caused the chair to tip over backwards thereby allowing the young redhead to leap from there the rest of the way into the still open portal.

'_Good thing that Xander likes Dungeons & Dragons. I don't think I could have expected all that if not for having him have me read all of the wizard's tasks and battle stories to him.'_ Willow thought just as she and her glamour came through the portal.

When she landed in a tumble with her more than solid double, Willow caught a glimpse of the office she had arrived in before seeing the being sat behind the large desk before said being grabbed her attention with two words. "Not bad."

Of what she did see of the office, it was rather typical of what anyone might expected of a powerful wizard or witch's private lair. It was large and dome-like, which seemed to be the primary theme of the Compound. Aside from the large steel/metal desk and the impressive throne-like reclining chair behind it, there were numerous podiums scattered about, some perhaps decorations, most of the things looked like they were more a part of some magical or scientific experiment. And you can't have an inner sanctum without flying books. Or a complete multi-colored chemistry set. Yet this was all beside the point and just frosting next to the wizard (or wizardess) that owned it all and was supposed to be some kind of magical titan in human flesh. Instead...

Just a pleasant middle-aged (appearing) woman in a long flowing green robe with red highlights. She had a stopwatch or maybe an olden pocket watch in her hand and was staring at the Willows on her floor. She repeated her statement to fully grab Willow's, the real one's, attention. "Not bad Willow, not bad at all."

Standing up slowly, mostly to make sure nothing would attack her, but also to indicate respect for the obvious higher ranking individual seated before her, Willow hastily dismissed the glamour version of herself and gulped nervously before asking the woman, "Uh, if I may ask…not bad what?"

The older woman, who could tell by how much older what with the whole Immortality deal, smiled sweetly and indicated the space in front of her desk, and as she did a chair materialized there. Willow suppressed the squeal of surprise that had risen in her throat and nodded her thanks to the Arch Mage before taking the seat quite literally made for her.

With little more than that, the Arch Mage launched into her explanation. "Not bad with your first test Willow. Most magic users that are sent into the waiting room end up going through the maze at least twice before even trying the portal. And then the fastest that anyone ever could get from the pad to the portal was two seconds, and that was with casting a speed spell before doing so. Very clever creating a glamour to hold the portal open while you made it from the pad to the other side. Yes. Very clever."

As Willow was flushing with the praise, something suddenly occurred to her. She didn't quite know what made her think of it, but when she did, she immediately acted on it. She once again cast the scrying spell and she immediately saw that the older witch was reading her mind, as well as holding her immobile to the chair. Suppressing her nervousness, Willow took calming breaths and thought of an old poem that she and Xander had helped Buffy to memorize for English class last year.

'_Oh Captain my Captain…'_ she repeated over and over as loud as she could in her own head. Focusing as hard on the words as she could, she barely heard the woman before her say something.

Losing her concentration, Willow tried to refocus her attention to what the elder witch had asked. "Huh? Sorry, what?" Willow stuttered.

"I asked you, young _Witch_, do you feel me in your mind?" the Arch Mage asked again.

Willow almost lost her focus again, and then she remembered the one thing that she could do better than all of the Scoobies. Multi-task. Reciting the poem, along with at least several strands of code that she had memorized as access codes for various computers and computer systems around the Sunnydale area, Willow answered in a calm tone, "I'm not sure I understand what you mean?"

Suddenly the other woman smiled brightly. "Scoobies?" she asked with a hint of a laugh. Willow arched an eyebrow, while internally she fought down panic. '_They have information about us from the Powers. The Powers knew we called our group the Scoobies, and she wants me to slip so she can read more from my mind. We'll two can play at that.'_

"Can you now?" the mage asked.

Taking a lesson from Buffy in intimidating looks, Willow did her friend proud as she smirked evilly at the Arch Mage. She suddenly began to think in no less than seven different directions at once, four in various virus codes that she had written herself, another two in the poem at different paces, and maybe five more in just random words that she normally saved for babble mode. The strain of trying to make sense of all of the jargon suddenly running though the young hacker's head quickly became obvious to anyone looking at the Arch Mage. Checking the scrying spell, Willow saw that the Arch Mage had disengaged the mind probe, or whatever it had been.

"Like I said, clever," the elder witch repeated, rubbing her temples slightly and sitting a little straighter. Willow quickly realized what she had done and who she had done it to and quickly slipped back to the nervous teenage girl that was in a place that was way, _way_, _**way**_ over her head.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, I-I-I didn't mean to do anything wrong, I-I just kind of reacted. It was like an instinct when I saw that you were reading my mind, and I only learned that scrying spell two weeks ago and…" Willow babbled.

"You learned _that_ spell just two weeks ago!?" the Arch Mage interrupted with a shout.

Suddenly afraid that she had done something seriously wrong, Willow shrunk back into her seat and meekly nodded, too terrified to give any other response. The Arch Mage, seeing her mistake quickly dispelled all the spells that she had on the young witch.

"I'm sorry for shouting Willow," she apologized in a quiet gentle voice. "It is just surprising. The scrying spell that you just used, twice in a row now, is a very powerful one. Well, very powerful for one that is supposed to be of your talents. Which is not supposed to be much at all. Tell me, what can you tell me about the spell you cast in the Gym yesterday afternoon?"

Scrunching her face in confusion at the question, and much relieved that she wasn't being yelled at, Willow carefully considered her answer, as well as the question before speaking. Finally, "Uh, I just kind of reacted. I wasn't really thinking at the time, and I didn't really mean to cast a spell, and Amy, that's the other witch that has been teaching me magic back at home, never taught me anything about mystical barriers or anything like that, so I, uh…I don't really know that much about it." She finished quietly.

Sitting back and steepling her fingers in front of her, the Arch Mage carefully regarded Willow before speaking again. When she did, it was in the same quiet voice, but with an air of authority and respect around it. "Please forgive me Willow, I have been very rude. Allow me to introduce myself and our surroundings. I am the Arch Mage Level 2, Sorceress of the Elements, High Wizardess of over 900 Realms and master of nine of the fourteen forbidden arts. My name is Amana, Amana Grael, when in private you may call me Amana. In public and in training, you may call me Arch Mage, or Teacher, depending on the situation and the place. You are currently in my private office, on the third floor of the Mage Tower. That means that we are near the top. In the Mage Tower we always count the roof as the first floor and count down from there, mostly because we keep changing the building and its floors, it is easier to work things that way, especially with basements. Heh, heh, heh," Amana laughed. Willow smiled, put much at ease, but as yet not understanding what the elder magic crafter was talking about, she didn't particularly find it funny.

"And you are Willow Rosenberg," Amana continued. "A witch in training that has had a summary total of three whole months of experience with magic and any of its rituals and beliefs and sciences."

"Well, actually…" Willow started, but stopped when the blond haired woman gave her a look that told her it would be wiser to wait until she was finished.

"You also only started spell casting a single month ago, am I correct in all of this information?" Amana pointedly asked, referring for Willow to finish her correction.

Instead, Willow just timidly nodded and remained quiet. Frowning with annoyance and slight frustration, Amana cleared her throat, causing Willow to look up. "Actually…what Willow?" she proffered.

Willow blinked in confusion for a second and then decided to finish the thought since her teacher was making it a point for her _to_ finish it. "Uh…well, I was going to say that I only knew a few rituals and it's a little closer to two months, three weeks and two days, not counting today. Uh…that's all."

Amana smiled gently at the shying young woman. "Willow," she whispered like a soft breeze. Willow looked up, not sure what to expect. She saw kind eyes with gentle power staring back at her, they were almost hypnotic, yet Willow never let herself get drawn away from the reality that was her teacher staring at her.

Smiling a little brighter, Amana sat forward and crooked her finger in a "come here" gesture. Willow leaned forward a little herself, expecting either a yelling directly in her ear, or some magical secret to be whispered even softer than her voice that if it were said any louder would do serious damage.

Instead, Amana simply said in a quiet, yet stern like no Principal could ever hope to be tone, "Willow. If you want to succeed at anything, magic most included, you must be more confident and not afraid of _any_ consequences. Speak up, shout your thoughts to the world and if they judge you for it, damn them. Do not refuse to stand up for yourself and never let anyone control you. And just because you can stand up for yourself, don't let it go to your head and be disrespectful. Do you understand me?"

Willow nodded and said as respectfully as she could, "Yes ma'am."

Amana closed her eyes and sighed, sitting back. Shaking her head, she stood up and walked over to a cabinet that had appeared only at the moment that she stood in front of it. She rummaged for a moment and then came back to her desk with a strangely shaped bottle filled with a red liquid, the cabinet disappearing when she turned her back to it.

"What's that?" Willow asked as the Arch Mage walked back to her seat. Amana did not answer her, rather conjured a very beautiful crystal chalice on the desk in front of Willow. Once the teacher was sitting once more, she opened the bottle and immediately the room was filled with a heady scent the likes that Willow had never before imagined nor encountered.

Amana poured the red liquid into the chalice until the crystal cup was filled to the brim.

"Drink it. All of it." She ordered.

"What is it?" Willow asked again.

Amana stared hard at her, but Willow remained firm in her questioning look. Finally Amana replied, "Just something to help you relax and allow me to begin the process of assessing your magical abilities and any training you _do_ have. It will not have any long-term effects on you and all I ask is that you drink it in order for you to be properly assessed."

Nodding, Willow picked up the chalice and carefully placed the red liquid under her nose, smelling with her senses and what magical instincts she had. Detecting a little bit of alcohol, yet nothing outright dangerous, the witch tipped her head back and downed the drink in a few gulps. Willow immediately felt the relaxing aspects of the liquid and quickly sat the chalice back on the desk before she lost her focus.

"Wow," she commented, surprisingly not slurred in the slightest. "That's, uh, that's great stuff." Amana just grinned and waved at the chalice and it vanished. She stared intently at Willow for several short minutes, giving the red witch the thought that even if she could detect any kind of spell that the Arch Mage was casting on her, there would be absolutely no way for her to counteract it.

"Willow, how much do you really know about magic?" Amana suddenly asked her.

Slightly thrown off-balance by the sudden question, Willow took a second to consider her answer. "Well, uh not all that much to be totally honest. I mean, I know it exists. I know a few wiccan rituals and I've read several tomes from various cultures that explain magic, or they try to anyway. I also know a few voodoo tricks, though Amy and her aunts told me never to try them." She finally answered.

Raising an eyebrow at the last admission, Amana asked, "_Did_ you ever try a voodoo 'trick'?" Rather than being offended or looking crossly at the elder witch, Willow just blushed a furious scarlet and hung her head a little. That was all the answer anyone would need. Nodding her head, Amana refrained from comment on that for the moment. She still had several more minutes before the liquid would take complete effect and she could properly gauge Willow's talents, so for now she might as well make small talk.

"Well, allow me to try and fill in some of the gaps in your education Willow…" Amana offered, bringing the young girl's head up. She then proceeded to give Willow a basic lecture on magical theory, and proven magical fact. Explaining first what magic was, the energy of the mind and various other forces throughout a plane of space, and then how very few and specific people and entities born had the potential to attract and direct these energies.

After some time, at a point when Willow was practically buzzing with the information she had absorbed faster than a sponge, Amana proceeded to take Willow into the lab portion of her office and proceeded to test her mental and magical talents. Some of the tests, such as levitation and transfiguration were familiar to the young witch, while others like matter manipulation and energy fixation were completely unfamiliar to her. It took several hours, and surprisingly after it, Willow was even more buzzed and full of energy than she was before.

"So? How'd I do?" she bubbled as they went back to the desk.

Amana tried unsuccessfully to hide the growing smile on her face. "Well Willow, Goku was quite correct in saying that you have great potential. And I, among a few others, which Goku is included in, have been charged in bringing out this potential and into its full blossom as quickly as possible. We will have lunch here today Willow."

Willow's eyes widened as her mind processed what the Arch Mage was indicating with that one sentence. Swallowing the large lump that had appeared in her throat at that very instance, Willow nodded and put on 'resolve face'. Amana openly grinned as she waved her hands and suddenly, no flash of light, no sensation of movement, just one second in the office, and the next moment they were in a place that looked like a prison cell turned classroom with a large table with a single uncomfortable chair at its center place. The walls were stone gray and Willow saw no possible exit, not even an MTC.

"Uh…" she stuttered a little worried.

Any further comment was cut off completely as Amana waved her right hand and the long and very large metal table was suddenly stacked full, up to at least a full five meters, corner to corner with various books and tomes that were all of varying ages as they were of sizes. Eyes wide in both amazement, and a little worry, Willow turned to the Arch Mage.

Just before she disappeared in a flash of white-yellow light, Amana turned to look Willow straight in the eye and ordered, "Read these. All of them. I will return when you have finished and I will test you on every one of them. _Then_ we will have lunch. If you finish early enough, I _might_ let you have your meal with your friends at the Mess," she smiled darkly, "but I doubt that you'll finish in the allotted time. Remember, there _will_ be a test." And then she disappeared, leaving Willow alone in the room with the biggest homework assignment of her life.

The place that the three black clad warriors stepped into from the glowing red portal was both impressive and disappointing in its own rites. It was a room about twice as large as the room they had just been in, save for the ceiling that was the same height, and the fact that it was filled with equipment that somehow made it seem even smaller than the training room.

What made it impressive, despite the sheer size, was the startling number and variety of the equipment scattered evenly in a pattern unique to the place. What made it disappointing was the fact that every single piece of equipment could be found in any Fitness Center's gym. There were several number of each type of equipment, the average being around ten or so, but not often any more than that. There were treadmills, stair machines, ten individual workout machines, you know those kinds that have about a dozen different weight training machines all put in one, and a larger variety of aerobic exercise devices than either teenager had ever encountered before.

"What is this place?" Buffy asked, in awe as they walked down an aisle between several of the training tools. Goku stopped them in front of one of the treadmills before answering.

"Endurance Training room," he provided as way of explanation. "Here, you build up your strength, speed, and muscles. _Then_ we work on training you to fight until you drop. Like I said, endurance training. You two will workout here, on what I put you on, for as long as I say with the only breaks being what I give you and water. Buffy, here's your first stop." Pointing at a relatively simplistic treadmill.

It was really only the black walk-cloth, the wheels and motors that the cloth ran on, and a bar to hold onto if you needed the added support, only without all the added fancy electronics and stuff. Buffy just shrugged, figuring it to either be set by her pace, or to be fully automated. Nodding, and hoping she wasn't going to regret it, Buffy got up onto the treadmill, grabbed the bar and waited for any further instruction.

"For right now, just set your own pace and we'll see how long you can keep it up. I'll be on the other side, getting Xander set up. Have fun," Goku grinned as he and the dark-haired youth walked off. Buffy grinned back, good-naturedly, not wanting the stronger warrior to see how much she was worried over this.

Taking a deep breath and holding onto the bar, Buffy began a light jog. The cloth surprisingly didn't have the slow buildup that she was accustomed to with such devices and didn't drag in the slightest. In fact it was just like jogging at the track at school, which Giles had made her run several times last year during training.

Meanwhile, Xander was still in the sweating buckets phase. Even when Goku led him over to something he was quite familiar with…a weight bench. The reason that Xander was temporarily relieved was because there were no bulky uncomfortable large round weights on the sides of the bar. Until he remembered about the gravity enhancers Goku told him were in his jacket and boots that could make the clothes he was wearing feel like twenty tons. If they could do that to clothing, they could certainly do that to a weight bench.

"Ohhhh, shit…" Xander couldn't help muttering as he came to this revelation.

Goku just grinned and forcefully pushed Xander onto the device by his shoulders.

"Don't worry Xander, we know you're not as strong as Buffy. Yet. So we'll start off pretty easy. About a hundred or so pounds by your measurement scale. Do no less than an equal hundred reps and I'll be here to spot you. And count. So get started, I'm planning on changing Buffy up in about twenty minutes, and we aren't moving until you are finished. So the less time you are here, the less time that Buffy is huffing and puffing over there, 'Kay?" Goku challenged the young teen. At which Xander suddenly got a very determined look in his eye.

'_Ah, teenage crushes. Has there ever been a more effective way to motivate such creatures?'_ Goku mused to himself as Xander got a comfortable grip on the bar. Then he answered himself, '_Nope,'_ with a smug grin.

'_All right,'_ Xander thought to himself, '_I can do this. No problem. Most of my books that I carry around at school weigh more than a hundred pounds, so this won't be that bad. At least I won't have to sit in a boring classroom listening to an even more boring lecture from a boring teacher. Come on Xander, you can do this, you can do this, you can do this…'_ he began repeating the mantra over and over in his mind. Until he actually tried to lift the bar.

'_What the hell_!!' Xander thought as he felt as if he were trying to bench press his dad's Buick rather than a six foot long bar with no weights on it.

"Uh, Goku?" Xander grabbed the trainer's attention. "Yeah Xander?" Goku asked like he was being asked a question about a movie he was watching at the moment. "I can't lift the bar. I thought you said it was only one hundred pounds?" Xander was surprised when Goku started shaking his head.

"I said that we would be _starting you off_ with one hundred pounds. In order to do that, you actually have to get started, which means that you have to lift the bar yourself, no changing it's force weight until then." Goku explained.

"Uh, just curious, just how much 'force weight' does this thing have right now?" Xander asked, very afraid of the answer.

"Well," Goku started off, like he was about to explain something complex and he knew Xander would still find it fascinating, "it's made out of the same material as yours and Buffy's swords, plus all the circuitry, and the power source, which is almost as dense as the material itself. So, until you actually manage to pick that bar at least three centimeters from its holding position for longer than a five point six second interval, which by the way count as 'two' counts, you know; 'One…Two…that's one second interval. Until you do that, it won't become one hundred pounds. And I can't help you, doesn't count unless you're the one to do it."

"The same metal…" Xander quietly repeated. "But…but-but _Buffy_ could hardly lift that sword, and you're expecting me to lift something that's supposed to weigh _twice_ as much?!!" Xander near shouted. Enough to get Buffy's attention.

"Hey!" she shouted from the treadmill. "Everything OK over there?"

Goku glared dangerously at the loud teen beneath him before answering, "Fine."

Suddenly Goku showed just how dangerous a trainer he really could be by getting his face less than an centimeter from Xander's, eye-to-eye. "Lift!" he hissed out. An order, no, a command. One that Xander dare not disobey.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Xander started taking deep breaths and reacquired the comfortable grip with his very sweaty hands. Then he started to flex his arm muscles to lift the bar up the necessary three inches. After a full minute, he had repositioned his legs several times for better leverage and still hadn't budged the massive (due to it's density) bar. After five minutes, Xander finally made some headway. His head looking like it'd explode any second, his arms feeling like they were on fire and his chest was exchanging oxygen in such quantities that he felt he could fill a hot air balloon and keep it in the air for an hour. He lifted it less than a millimeter, but he had moved it. Rather than stop, rest and spend an hour congratulating himself on the back, he redoubled his resolve and continued to push as hard as he humanly could upward.

After the point where he was seeing more stars and red than the gray of the ceiling, he finally moved it a full millimeter from the holding position. Breathing in through his nose and out through the mouth, as he had been taught was the best way to breath when heavily exerting oneself, Xander spent the total of the next two minutes working the bar millimeter by millimeter continuously upward, until finally something broke (metaphorically speaking) inside him and he started open mouthed breathing, which he found gave him much deeper oxygen reserves, despite everything he had been taught to the opposite. After that point, the lifting somehow seemed easier. Not greatly in the slightest, just enough that he seemed to have enough energy to actually complete it.

Thirty minutes after Buffy had been placed on the treadmill, Xander finally lifted the bar over the threshold mark. It did not immediately lighten to the one hundred pounds that he had been told it had been set to, rather it gradually lightened as he continued to lift it higher until his arms were fully outstretched. And even by that point he was not certain that it was at the one hundred pounds it was supposed to be, so carefully he moved the bar from over his head where the holding position was to over his chest, hoping and trusting yet at the same time not trusting Goku to spot him and keep the incredibly dense bar from crushing him. Even if he was immortal now, which he still didn't quite entirely believe just yet, he didn't favor having his head smashed into a gooey smear on the floor by a slim piece of ultra-dense metal.

After less than a minute in that position, Goku stared at him and impatiently asked, "Well?" Taking a really big breath, Xander began his reps. His arms felt like they were on fire while being crushed into pancakes, but he kept on lifting. After he lost count around thirty or so, he began to feel a slight difference, a very slight difference in his pain. As he kept pushing the weight upward and slowly letting it down to his chest, he thought at some points that he could actually _feel_ his muscles growing and strengthening.

After a near eternity of torture for Xander, Goku interrupted his rhythm, snapping his fingers in front of the young man's face. Xander paused long enough to realize what was happening before pushing the bar back up, fully extending his arms and locking them into place, as comfortable as he could get at the moment. "Yeah?" he gasped out, his entire frame drenched in his own sweat.

"You're done. Put the bar back down and join me over by the treadmills." Goku ordered, walking away.

Xander sighed a huge breath of relief and maneuvered the bar accordingly and carefully lowered the bar, which somehow seemed to get heavier with every millimeter until it was less than that from the cradle, and there he let it drop the rest of the way. Taking gulping breaths, Xander just lay there for several minutes, letting his tired and suddenly light, airy feeling arms just rest for the moment or two.

After the rest, Xander slowly sat up, waiting for the dizziness and lightheaded sensations to leave his brain in peace before standing up fully. Once he was comfortable on his feet again, he looked around the room until he saw where Buffy, who was still on the treadmill, and Goku, who was standing just off to the side from her staring at him, were. He quickly made his way over to them, despite feeling the need to sit down and take a nap or something.

"Sorry," Xander apologized automatically as he came up to the black clad pair, "but do you honestly expect me to recover from doing one hundred reps of a one hundred pound bar as fast as you two would? No I didn't think so."

Buffy, who was equally drenched in her sweat as Xander was, looked pleadingly at Goku. He noticed that her pace was much more brisk than what she started out on. "Can I _please_ get off now?" Buffy huffed between breaths.

Goku nodded, still staring at Xander. Xander finally noticed it to the point that it started to creep him out. "What?" he asked loudly. Goku frowned a little and shook his head as Buffy got off the treadmill and immediately bent over and began to try and get her breathing back under control.

"It's nothing," Goku answered Xander's question. "Get on the treadmill. Start at whatever pace you like that will keep up with the runner. It'll increment faster and you won't be allowed off until you either outrace the machine, or we come and get you and let you off. Buffy, come with me."

Buffy nodded and stood up, mildly surprised that she was able to do so given what she'd just been through. Normally she handled the two or three miles that Giles had her run daily at extreme paces most mornings and afternoons. However, she just felt like she had run at her top speed for over fifty miles. And actually, she had, with no rest either.

Once Buffy's breathing was semi-under control, she quickly caught up and followed Goku along the path he lead through the workout machines. Xander, meanwhile got onto the treadmill, that same that Buffy had used, and began to walk. As soon as he did, the running cloth picked up speed until he was at a fairly decent jog. Gulping, he wiped some sweat from his forehead and kept pace. For the next hour. And through six increment increases until he was running flat out at 13½ mph.

Buffy on the other hand was taken over to the row of weight benches. "Is this what you had Xander doing?" Buffy asked as she sat down on one of the benches and laid back. Goku nodded and twisted a knob just above where her head rested on the bench.

Frowning, Buffy asked, "What did you do?"

Goku looked her in the eye and replied, "Well, you're stronger, much stronger than Xander is. I have to increase the weight that you lift to make any sort of difference. 'Kay?" Buffy thought about it for a second, and deciding that it did make sense, she nodded. Goku nodded back and told her, "I'll tell you when to stop." She nodded once more before setting her feet, getting a comfortable grip on the weight-less bar and taking several deep breaths through her nostrils. Then she lifted the bar straight up like it really was only a thin two-meter-length metal bar.

She cocked an eyebrow at the lifted instrument before grunting, "Heavy," and began doing reps. She kept a very intense pace, and only slowed when her arms began to get sore. Even then she quickly pushed past the pain and kept the same pace. After a half hour, and nearly three hundred and seventy five reps later, Goku had remained quiet and Buffy was still going at a blazingly intense pace. Twenty minutes after that, Goku decided that she'd done enough, the weights having incremented twice, first from the standard density-weight of the bar itself to twice that, where her arms began to get sore, and then from that to four times its weight, and she had barely flinched, keeping the same straining pace.

"All right Buffy, that's enough," he ordered, grabbing the bar on the up-push. Buffy blinked and shook her head, having gotten into a zone while her body pushed itself farther than she had ever been allowed before. She was hardly out of breath as she sat the bar down and sat up. She flexed her arms and rolled them around, stretching out the muscles, hearing them sing with the exercise and work out. She rolled her neck a little before standing up and looking up at Goku, waiting for his next exercise.

She almost found herself eager for the challenge. She wasn't sure, but something about this training, training different and more intense than she had ever felt or even conceived of before, was exciting a part of her that she usually associated with her more primal Slayer instincts. Maybe Slayers naturally wanted to get stronger and her body, in realizing this, was practically celebrating at the chance.

Shaking off the feelings for the moment, she focused on Goku. He was staring over at Xander again. She knew the look too. It was a calculating stare, one that was put on the face of one who wants to find out something, knows where to look for it, and only has to wait for it to appear before him. Buffy had seen it more times than she could guess on Willow's face while they were having a study/cram session. Giles sometimes bore it himself during training, wondering what she would have to learn next as a part of her "destiny".

Buffy, wondering what Goku was looking for exactly, turned to stare at Xander as well. Then she realized something else. Goku was probably sensing Xander's power to see if it was actually growing or whatever. Focusing as she had learned the day before to do, Buffy recognized 'Goku' almost immediately, but she had a little bit of trouble finding 'Xander'. When she actually 'found' him, she could somehow sense how she would never normally pick him up on her radar, but she could instinctively tell that she would still be able to sense him, as she could now, provided she 'looked' for him.

Focusing all her senses, most especially her new sixth and/or seventh, on her friend, Buffy began to feel out what was happening within the young man. She was more than a little amazed when she felt his current level of "power", though it was far less than her own, it was surprisingly strong. She wasn't sure how she knew this, but she didn't doubt it. The next thing that surprised her was that she could sense Xander's "Potential Power" or how much energy he could actually be putting into his work. She was more than just a little surprised to feel his power output to be very far below that potential. Very far below.

Shaking herself out of the stupor that focusing on Xander had done, she turned back to Goku, who was now staring at her. "What?" she asked automatically. He smiled roguishly and said, "Nothing." Grimacing in annoyance, Buffy decided to let it go for the moment and pushed him for her next exercise.

"OK, never mind then. What next? I mean, if you're going to be alternating us between these two for the whole day, then why not just let us do them at the same time, or let me do weights until Lunch and Xander on the track, and then after lunch we come back and switch or whatever." Buffy suggested.

Goku just shook his head and turned away from Xander and walked to the next corner of the room. "I'm not even going to dignify that stupid question with an answer. And yes it is a stupid question because it's a stupid idea. I'm spacing out your exercises so that your muscles can cope with the strain they're being put under. Rather than focus on one group of muscles for an extended period of time and forcing them to adapt overnight, they are getting rest periods that allow them to expand and grow and it also targets more than just one area of muscles. Your way would cause cramps and sore muscles for at least the next day and force you into the clinic for some massive massage therapy. This way, you adapt and grow stronger quicker and with much less pain."

"Massage?" Buffy asked, following, and with a note of youthful anticipation in her voice.

"Massage Therapy." Goku corrected. "It would not be a normal massage and it would not be as relaxing. Massage Therapy focuses on forcibly relaxing, unknotting, and helping the muscles to grow. Sort of like Acupuncture. Useful, relaxing, but extremely painful."

"Oh."

The area that Goku now led the Slayer to was actually little more than padding with a white circle on it. The trainer waved the girl into the circle and she stepped into the center. Looking at him, her question written on her face, Goku answered it. "Another adaptation exercise. For the time being, just stretch, using that technique I taught you. Then wait for me to return. If you get bored waiting, then do a few of your own exercises, like push-ups or whatever floats your boat."

Just as he was turning around, Buffy shot out a quick question. "What exactly does this circle do?"

Without turning around, Goku responded, "It's a Graviton-Enhancer Operator. Or GEO. In short, it's what activates the weights in your outfit. This is to get you used to the gravity of the Compound as well as strengthen your muscles and endurance. Don't worry, if it gets to be too much, just sit still and let your body adapt to it that way."

"What?!!" Buffy screeched as the Saiyan walked away. Buffy wanted to go running after him and drag him back and beat him to a pulp for even suggesting such a torture, but another question sprung to mind before she could move.

"How heavy is it going to be?" she shouted.

Goku stopped and turned back in her direction. "10 G's. Or ten times the force of Earth's natural gravity. However, since Earth uses 1.2 Gravitons, about 20.7 Gravitons per sq. mm," he answered back, and then resumed his walk over to Xander to get him off the treadmill.

Buffy gulped and just stood there for several minutes. Goku and Xander were well out of range of her hearing, but she found that with her new sense she could tell exactly where they were. Though she had trouble telling what exactly it was they were doing.

After several longer minutes, Buffy decided to sit down and wait for them to get back, rather than have to fight to stay standing when the thing increased the gravity. Sitting Indian-style, Buffy calmed her breathing and tried to relax a little. She noticed the air was getting a little heavy, but she chocked it up to her sweat. After what felt like several hours but was less than thirty minutes, Buffy's restless mind forced her into action. Standing up, which she was surprised was harder than normal, but again she just chocked it up to her sore and tired muscles, she began to pace around the circle.

After another ten minutes, which she actually tried to count she was so bored, Buffy had to stop pacing, her muscles screaming out for a slight rest. She stood in the center of the circle once more, just standing still, yet her leg muscles still demanded a rest. Yawning suddenly, Buffy scratched behind her neck and noticed how slow and heavy her arm felt as she did it. Biting her lower lip, Buffy wondered if the suit would activate whether Goku was here to activate it or not. Chances were pretty good that it had been active since he had left.

Shaking her head, feeling her very brain being pulled downward by a force stronger than she was used to, Buffy decided to fight this as much as was possible. She reached both her arms upward and stretched, standing on her toes. The effect was as she feared, heavy and way more difficult to do than it should have been. Buffy decided to take Goku's suggestion and exercise to occupy herself until he came to let her out of this. She worked the stretch routine that Goku had taught them once more, and surprisingly this actually helped her muscles a little, causing them to feel less strained.

Then she sat back down, and began to do a few hundred push-ups. After she did that, she was heavy-winded and her arms were sorer than they'd ever been before. Next she rolled over and did about a hundred fifty or so sit-ups and stomach crunches. After that, she jumped to her feet and began to pace again, waiting impatiently for Goku. Thirty minutes, thirty excruciatingly long minutes later, Buffy stretched one last time, and as she was finishing up with that, Goku and a very exhausted Xander came to her section of the gym.

"Hey guys," she greeted good-naturedly, though she felt anything but. "Wow, Xan, you look pooped, flushed, recycled, and everything in between." Xander barely had the energy to respond with a weak grin and a small wave.

"All right," Goku groaned at the bad joke, "Enough of that Slayer. X! Get in the circle. No questions, no comments, and do not pass GO or collect two hundred dollars!"

Xander hastily walked into the circle before Goku had even finished speaking. Buffy grinned at him openly and patted him on the shoulder as they traded places. After he more or less caught his breath, standing straight in the middle of the circle Xander finally managed the energy to speak once again. "So, uh, what exactly is this?" he asked sounding uncertain.

Buffy opened her mouth to give the explanation that she had been given, but stopped herself at the last second to glance at Goku to see if he wanted to answer it instead. When she looked at him, he was staring intently at his Global, occasionally tapping a key or two. When he finally finished whatever he was doing and looked up at the two teenagers staring at him. Then he recalled the question that Xander had asked.

"Oh, it's uh…the device that activates the weights in your uniform. I'm setting it for about ten G's for you Xander. But we'll do it gradually, don't worry too much X. Buffy was started out at more or less the same level, but because of her adaptive nature, we've already increased it."

Buffy was nearly floored, and it was at that moment that she realized that she was still feeling the same "heaviness" that she had been feeling for the last hour or more. Her eyes bulging, she sputtered at the trainer, "Y-y-yo-y-y-yo-you-u-YOU _increased_ the gravity!!!?" she ended up screaming. Goku just nodded and had gone back to his Global.

In her rage at being deceived, Buffy never noticed the blinking light glowing that was on the sides of her boots, and hardly even bothered to realize that she was now storming forward towards Goku in the equivalent of 50 times Earth's normal gravity. Goku just stood there, withstanding Buffy's brief rage and after the brief minutes, during which she completely lost her train of thought and ended up confusing herself, (and anyone else that would have tried to follow her line of thought), he just glared at her until she got back down and crossed her arms and pouted like an angry two year old.

Goku was actually more than a little impressed. Buffy's uniform had actually been 'G-active' since she had put on the jacket and had stepped through the MTC for the Training Room. From the moment that she had started the katas and exercises, the uniform had been set to just over 4 G's, the most that many humans could handle. After seeing this on the training room monitors, the people in charge of such things slowly incremented Buffy's G's until by the time that she got off the treadmill, she had been running in 10 G's for the past ten miles or so of it.

When Goku had taken her to the circle, there her GEO suit was put immediately into 20 G's. She didn't even show signs of feeling it until they incremented it to 25 G's, the equivalent of being near the Earth's core. They left it at that as she began to exercise, and only incremented it again just before Goku came back over with Xander, to 30. When Goku called for an update, he was just as shocked as they had been at how well Buffy adapted to the stronger gravities. Then, using his considerable influence and so forth, he authorized that she be upgraded to a steady _50 G's_, or 50.9 Gravitons per sq. _cm._ Which is what she was at, and she was acting like most humans did in **5 G's**!! Goku however had kept his word on Xander, even though he knew he should be harder on the boy since he wasn't even using his maximum energy, and kept the youth on a slow increment to steady off at 10 G's when he stepped into the white circle.

Suddenly, his Global beeped at him, startling everyone there. Pulling it open, Goku read that on higher orders, and irrevocable authorization, Xander's training had been upgraded to a flux _20 gravitons per sq. __cm___ Translating to 20 G's, and not always that. He quirked his eyebrows at the statement of data and then smiled darkly.

"What?" Xander and Buffy cried out in fear at the same time.

Glancing up, Goku's grin grew darker. He said two words that both confused the hell out of them, and sent cold shivers up and down their spines. "Sparring time," he answered darkly.

Two solid hours later, Buffy and Xander were panting and limping their way through the MTC back to the Gym where their day of hell had started. Giles was now sitting Indian-style in the middle of the room, the unsheathed Nightblade laying length-wise across his knees. He seemed almost completely unaware of them, his eyes closed and his form completely still. That is, until he spoke without moving a thing other than his lips.

"Hello Buffy, Xander, Goku," he softly greeted.

"Hey Giles," Goku greeted way too cheerily. After the workout and beating that he had just given the two teenagers, they could barely stand straight. Not to mention the way that Giles had done the whole "I know you're there even though I can't see you" thing really creeped them out. Finally Xander couldn't stand it anymore, literally.

Collapsing to the floor in exhaustion, the lanky youth concentrated more on continued breathing rather than getting back up or listening to the conversation around him. Buffy looked about to join him, but she was more concerned about the members of her team that she had not witnessed nor seen since they had split up more than four hours ago. Still, she also could no longer stand it, and settled for collapsing onto her butt and more or less staying there as little more than a heap of flesh for several more minutes.

When her breath caught up with her lungs, Buffy finally found the strength to ask her Watcher the question she had been pondering on for the past four hours. It can get boring on a treadmill with nothing to read or look at. "Giles," she called hoping to get any kind of response from the statue on the floor. He just replied, moving nothing but his lips, "Yes Buffy?"

Thinking that was the best she could get for now, and not really up to being the annoyingly cute little girl that she could always get her little finger wrapped around him with, she just asked her question. "Giles, what have you been doing since we left? I mean, I know Will's supposed to be doing the witch thing, and me and Xander have just had the living hell beat out of us," Goku's grin just got a little wider as he stood off against the wall, "and I've been worried sick that if that was happening to us, you'd either be in Librarian heaven in research, or getting something almost as bad as we've gotten. Plus, you're acting all weird."

"Weird?" Giles asked.

Xander, from the floor, "Yeah, you know! The whole, zombie-comatose-Jedi-sensing thing you did when we walked in. Plus, I don't think you've moved in a _very_ long time. Whereas me and Buff here had to do all we could to _keep_ moving just so we wouldn't fly across the room when Mr. I'm-so-tough-I-beat-up-teens-and-laugh-while-doing-it actually hits us. And he even tells us he wasn't even trying that hard!!"

"But I wasn't," Goku supplied with a laugh.

Buffy groaned, and finding enough energy struggled to her feet and made it over to Giles. "Giles, if you ever, and I mean _ever_ put me through something like that, I will kill you. Call it a promise."

"I think that you might find that more difficult that you realize Slayer," Giles retorted.

Slightly perturbed by the cold response, yet realizing that he was just calling her by her codename, Buffy barely had to think of the responding retort coming out of her mouth. "Well, _Watcher_, as it being that I already beat your ass black and blue in training, I mi-iiiIIIII-yii!" Buffy screeched. Faster than Buffy had ever thought anyone but Goku could move, Giles grabbed the hilt of his obsidian sword, swung it around and turned it so that the flat of the blade would hit the back of her knees, thereby tripping the blond girl and forcing her to land hard on her backside against the floor. Of course, the Graviton generators in her suit were still active, making it that much harder of a fall.

More than just a little surprised, Buffy took a little time to shake loose the stars that had come back to her vision, only to see the blade at her jugular, less than a millimeter from breaking skin. Too afraid to gulp, Buffy froze on the spot and for the first time, truly afraid of the man that she had thought too often just as helpless as any other non-super powered combatant in a fight.

Then the blade was retracted and Buffy could breath safely again. "Consider it a warning Slayer. My skills with the Blade have only just begun, and they will continue to increase with each day that passes. I'm confident that Goku has something very rigorous planned for all of us, not just you and Xander. So I'm sure that you'll get to see me in the very shape you've found yourself in, at some point."

Getting up, and knowing not to _ever_ threaten Giles' life unless she could very well back it up ever again, Buffy only nodded in response and went to help Xander up. He had sat up when Buffy had screamed out, and the surge of adrenaline the event had caused for the both of them was enough to get them both to their feet.

"So now what Goku?" Buffy asked. And almost immediately regretted. Every time that she had said that to him today, he had always come up with something that left her almost dead tired after doing it.

"Well," he began, "right now we're waiting to see if Witch is going to join us. If not, then we're going to exercise in here until Lunchtime. Non-stop."

Xander just groaned in misery, while Buffy frowned a little but didn't vocalize any response. Giles meanwhile was still in his Yoga thing and she really didn't want to know what it was that he was meditating on. Suddenly, Buffy felt something. With her new sense.

Focusing immediately upon it, she tried to make sense of what she was feeling. At the very first, it felt incredibly strong. Then it slowly ebbed off until whatever it was, was still very strong, but not incredibly so. Like when a wave crashes into the shore. The crest of the wave is incredibly more powerful that the rest of the wave, but when it hits the shore it disappears rapidly leaving the rest of the wave, which is powerful in its own right, just not as much as it was during the crash to shore. That's kind of what this power felt like.

"Goku?" she grabbed her Trainer's attention.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"What's that?" she just asked, staring off into space, not really at anything.

Confused, Goku asked back, "What's what?"

"That power," she answered. "It was incredibly strong for a second or so, and then it just kind of ebbed off. What, or rather _who_ was it? It felt kind of close."

Scrunching his face in confusion, Goku focused his senses and tried to discover what power it was that Buffy had just discovered. When he found it, he blinked in shock. Heck, _he_ was in shock.

When Buffy saw that he had found what she felt, she asked, "Well?"

"Uh… well, Buffy…uh…" he mumbled.

"Spit it out Goku!" she shouted.

Rather than say anything, Goku just looked straight at Giles. Buffy followed his stare, and then she was staring at Giles. When the implications hit her, her eyes widened and her breathing rapidly became shallow. Blinking away the shock, the Slayer slowly composed herself and calmly asked Giles what he was doing. "Giles, _Watcher_, what are you doing? Goku says that it's your power that I'm feeling."

"Actually, it is the Blade's, not my own. Though at some point, I'm told, that my own power level will come to that ability." Giles monotonously replied.

Shaking her head, trying to wrap her thoughts around what he just told her, Buffy shouted out, "What the hell is THAT supposed to mean?"

The still figure on the floor had the audacity to actually smile right then. "It means, Buffy, that the magic sword on my lap is very strong. When it teaches me how to use it, I will be that strong." The entire taunt was said like that of an adult "baby talking" to an infant, or when kids tease each other on the playground by talking like a little kid.

Now that she understood how to use her power sense, as she began to think of it, Buffy actually _felt_ her own power level raise just a little. She then focused on what her body was doing. Getting ready to fight. '_So that's the secret. I just have to focus my body into various levels of fighting, then I can control how far my power level goes up.'_ Buffy realized.

Forcing her fury at her Watcher's words into an even higher blaze, Buffy only felt her power raise barely a fraction higher. She would need another focus to raise her level any higher. Then she remembered her first Watcher, and how he just breezed into her life, and blew his windstorm of being the Chosen One, the Slayer, and then left her. Just as she was beginning to think of him as more than just an annoyance. Suddenly her rage, remembering all the pain, the heartache, and the fury at what the vampire master Lothos had done to her, it just exploded.

Goku looked up in shock at Buffy, surprise clearly etched on his face. But it was the next words out of the blond woman's mouth that shocked all of the men.

"Get up you bastard! I may take that kind of talk at school, from Goku, and hell even from my enemies, but I will be a damned soul in the first circle of Hell before I let you get away with talking to me like that! Get up! Fight me!! I'll put you back down on that mat so fast that you'll wonder if that wimpy sword really is teaching you its shit!!" she shouted.

Goku actually winced. "Mistake," he muttered to himself. "Do not insult the Blade."

Before anybody could try to dissuade this very volatile situation, Buffy drew her katana blade like she had been born with it in her hand. Giles opened his eyes. Xander audibly gasped. The Watcher's pupils were dilated to the point where his entire eyes looked black. Buffy just stood their waiting, her impatience growing with each second.

Smiling darkly, Watcher tossed the Blade, twirling it into the air. Then he just back flipped from his cross-legged position on the floor onto his feet, and then he caught the Blade on its down crest. Twirling it on his wrist, he asked his charge, "Are you sure about this Buffy? I mean, even before we came here, I could still beat you in fencing."

"Who the hell said we were going to fence?" Buffy replied with a dark voice.

Faster than Xander had ever seen her move before, Buffy was at Giles, her sword swinging in fast and sharp arcs. Giles blocked every one. After ten or twenty seconds of just wild swinging, Buffy actually developed into a more or less pattern with the katana, which Goku, or anyone with a trained eye, would notice that Giles easily adapted to. Buffy continued to try and hammer past Giles' defenses, keeping Watcher entirely on the defensive.

Then something seemed to happen. Buffy either caught her second wind, or Giles was already tired after having sat down for so long because Watcher finally took a step back, having until now stood his ground where he landed. His face too shown that he was beginning to tire, while Buffy's face was still enlightened by her fury.

"Very good Buffy. I think you're finally getting the hang of the katana. Next you'll have to try the broad sword," Giles neutrally commented, trying to distract Buffy.

Buffy's reaction was not what he had hoped it'd be. Her face, if possible, actually became more infuriated and her blows twice as hard and her speed noticeably increased. Finally her rage became so great, that she yelled.

"AaaaaaAAAAAAAHHHHH!!" a reverberating hollow sound that scared all the men to their core. As her throat elicited this unearthly sound, her body moved so fast that Goku had trouble keeping up as he was. Her sword knocked the Blade aside but for a moment, and before any of them could blink, she performed the same move Watcher had done to her earlier, flawlessly.

Caught completely off guard, and having no way to counter the move, Giles ended up on his backside on the floor, less than two minutes from the moment he left it. When the stars had cleared from his vision, he saw the Slayer's katana at his Adam's apple. Knowing that he would cut himself on the laser-sharpened sword if he gulped or even breathed any heavier, Watcher stayed very, very still.

Suddenly a loud sound of clapping filled the room. Buffy lifted her sword and turned to look at the offending source, Goku. "Very well done Slayer. _Very_ well done," he complimented.

Turning back to Watcher, Buffy asked in a stone cold tone, "I trust that I've made my point?" He silently nodded from the floor. "Good. Both as team leader and the representative for this Tournament, I expect your respect. If this "Blade" of yours really is sentient, then I expect its respect as well. Xander, I trust that I have your respect, right?"

Immediately, "Yes ma'am, you do, ma'am!" He then snapped an awkward salute. "You aren't gonna beat me up are you?" Buffy grinned some and shook her head to the negative.

Making a slight show of it, Buffy twirled the Make Seven katana on her wrist before sliding it over the hilt of the sheath and then fitting it firmly into the back-sheath. After Giles got back to his feet, Buffy began to pace a little more. After a couple turns, she finally turned to Goku and boldly asked, "So how long are we going to wait for Willow?"

Goku just stood there against the wall, his arms crossed across his chest, and glanced at her. Then he just shrugged and replied, "However long you want to wait. Lunch isn't for another six hours or so, and the reason we cut sparring time so short was because of how easily I kept beating you and Xander. If you die more than five times in a single training session, it's one of the rules to move onto another exercise."

Xander did a double take, as did Giles, though Xander's showed considerable more shock. "We died! How did we die? I thought we were immortal because of the Powers!" he shouted.

Goku nodded. "You are. That's why you're standing there shouting right now. The way the whole immortality aspect works is like this. If you're hurt, then you stay hurt until your body heals itself. If you are hurt enough that you would die within one to twelve hours, then you are healed within five to ten minutes. If you are hurt enough that it would be considered instant death, then the Powers directly heal you so that you are at whatever your full strength is within a few seconds. I think I broke your back some twelve times Xander, only twice enough to cause instant death. I snapped Buffy's neck nearly six times. You'll also notice that any bruises that you would have from 'sparring practice' aren't even there. And they won't be."

Buffy stopped. "So you're saying that we're only immortal in that we can't die permanently. Not can't get sick, can't get old, and if we get so much as a paper cut it won't heal instantly right in front of our eyes. Am I right?"

"Not exactly. The part where you don't get old does apply. It's just not immediately noticeable. And for injuries like paper cuts, bruises, even scrapes, they'll heal just as fast as your body normally heals it. Only if it's life threatening does it heal any faster." Goku answered.

"Oh, okay," Buffy commented before resuming her pacing.

After another minute, which even Xander considered pacing, though unlike Buffy he was feeling every weight of his gravity enhancers, Buffy declared her boredom once again. "Is there any way that we can _go_ to _Willow _rather than _her_ to _us_?" she shouted at Goku again.

Goku deftly shook his head to the negative. "No way. The only people that can get _into_ the Mage Tower anyway are either mages, or mage's guests. And before you ask, I don't know any mages so lets just cut that line of questioning off right there!"

Buffy frowned and continued her pace about the room. When it brought her next to Goku's position on the wall, she stopped. "Fine. Whatever. But right now I'm restless. I've never felt like this before to be honest. It's like…"

"Like you've been touched by a purifying fire, and when you touch it, it dances across your skin, making you feel more alive than you've ever felt before." Goku finished for her.

Blinking, Buffy turned and stared up at Goku. He just grinned at her.

"How…how did you know…that?" she asked quietly. Giles and Xander were both paying close attention to the pair.

Goku just shrugged. "For the first half of my life I always knew something was different about me. I was stronger, faster, and tougher than anybody and everything. Then I met someone. Apparently he knew my great great grandfather when they were both kids. Then he taught me Martial Arts. And I actually felt like I was accomplishing something worthwhile in my life. For the first time in my life, I felt like I was doing exactly what I was supposed to, and for the right reasons. It wasn't until the Powers approached me that I felt the portion of my Saiyan heritage actually sing from the training I received. It was in my fifth week of training here that I was able to cross the barrier into Super Saiyan. The moment that I did, I never felt the same ever again. I felt just like that."

Buffy blinked and nodded her understanding. Then she snapped her right arm out to attempt to punch Goku in the face. Before her fist was even a foot from his face, he had blocked it by catching her arm.

Without losing a beat, Buffy then snapped her left foot out, letting Goku hold most of her weight as she solidly connected with the side of his head. Surprised, Goku let go of the Slayer's arm and rubbed absently where her foot had connected, soothing the dull pain that had appeared there.

Buffy then tried to kick the Saiyan in the chest, but he wasn't distracted long enough for him to ignore her attacks and he easily blocked the kick with his arm. Keeping up the best advantage that she'd had over the powerful fighter since she'd met him, Buffy kept swinging kicks at his head and chest, while he just as easily dodged or blocked them.

Finally, after a minute of watching this continue, Xander realized what they were doing. What they had been doing for the past two hours; sparring. According to Goku's definition anyway, was more or less a free-for-all where every fighter in the room tried to knock out every other fighter in the room. Before, when it had just been Xander and Buffy versus Goku, needless to say it had been more than a bit one-sided.

Buffy was a much better fighter than Xander was, but compared to Goku it really didn't matter. He had avoided every single one of their attempts to land a hit on him, but no matter how many times they tried it seemed like every one of _his_ did. After the first hour, Buffy had learned how Goku liked to fight, his style of fighting. Well, she at least recognized what it looked like. And after 90 minutes, even Xander had caught onto some things.

Taking a breath, which sounded more like a sigh of resignation, Xander gathered his meddle and ran into the brawl fists swinging. He managed to angle himself so that he was behind Goku, but Buffy could still see him. He had learned _that_ lesson after the first twenty or so accidents.

Xander aimed for the back of the Saiyan's neck with a balled fist, coiled back his arm, and threw it with everything he could muster. Less than a second before it would have landed, Goku vanished before their eyes. He moved so fast they barely saw the lines of movement as he vacated the space.

In the same amount of time that it took the image of Goku not being there to reach Xander's brain, he had already realized what had happened and sent the message to his arm and fist to stop before they hit Buffy. With credit to Xander, he managed to freeze his body a second later, with less than a half centimeter between his arm and Buffy.

Yet at the same time, Buffy, having gotten into her fighting zone where she concentrated more about fighting and hitting the enemy rather than where she's going, didn't notice that Goku had 'flashed' away from her until the kick she had been firing off as he did, knocked Xander down and nearly all the way to the far wall. She did notice it the second after though.

Her senses screaming, Buffy ducked just in time under a high kick and soon found herself little time to wonder about how bad she had hurt Xander. Even after all the times Goku had maneuvered them into the same trap over the past two hours, Buffy was still focused more on getting _to_ the target herself rather than realize the only hope she had of _getting_ the target was to use teamwork.

After the kick, Buffy blocked several more as they came at her from nearly every side, and another vicious high kick every time she tried to fully stand. Having had enough, Buffy rolled away from her attacker, paused, then rolled back the same way and twice the distance.

Spinning as she came to her feet, Buffy managed to survey the entire room, determining the highest threat and the location of it and her target. Buffy paused when she saw Giles, having drawn his sword, advancing on her. Rapidly.

Ducking under his first swing with his new Blade, Buffy saw the opening she often exploited when sparring with Giles during training. After he struck, he always left his right side open. Buffy's hand shot out without her even thinking about it. Though she did have to force herself to put more force behind the blow than she normally did with Giles.

Her result, while heart wrenching, was what she had expected. Giles grunted and went to his knees in pain. Buffy spun, giving a sloppy roundhouse to the hand holding the Blade, knocking it away from the Watcher, and then punched him in the face. Harder than she normally had to, but the result was the same. Giles got knocked out. From his perspective though, for the last time.

Buffy turned, seeing Giles slump to the floor into unconsciousness, and started scanning the room for Goku. She barely had to look as he 'flashed' right in front of her, surprising her, but not enough to stop her instincts. She reached up and decked him solidly across the face.

His head turned slightly to the left, but he gave little else of a reaction to it. Frowning, Buffy decided to see what all of that strength-training this morning had done for her, and doing her best to raise her power and put as much of it into this one punch that she could, she tried her right.

Goku wasn't entirely sure what Buffy was up to when she started in on him. Maybe she just really hated getting beat, maybe she normally trained like this, or maybe she was actually trying to prove something. '_Poor kid_,' he thought to himself, '_I've gotta get it across to her that it takes a while before she's strong enough to take me like this_.'

Her first punch when he reappeared in front of her stung a little, but if he could stand multiple ki blasts and energy waves with nary a scratch, then he could stand the chance of getting a bruise on his cheek. Her right punch however…

Goku's head was snapped all the way back to his right she hit him so hard. '_DAMN! That __**HURT**__!!'_ was his first thought after the blow. Buffy, not wanting to lose an inch of gained ground struggled as hard as she could to keep her power up and lay it into every one of her hits.

Less than an instant after her punch, Buffy threw another, aimed at his left shoulder with as much if not more power to it. This knocked the Trainer back around the other way. She hit his other shoulder, then his upper torso, and then she started getting into it with her kicks.

At each blow the blonde Slayer dealt the experienced and powerful warrior, he felt more and more pain to each blow being delivered. '_Damn, she's strong,'_ he thought as she started kicking his upper torso and head when she could get a clear shot. Then he mentally sighed. '_But not strong enough. She's using almost all of her energy just to lay some more pain into me. She's fighting sloppy. What the _hell _is her problem? I mean, really!'_

Having had enough, Goku upped his speed the marginal fraction of a factor and caught Buffy's next punch in the palm of his left fist. Then he stared her in the eye, and gave her a look that he saved only for those that _really_ annoyed him.

When Goku caught her punch, Buffy realized that he was just playing with her, testing her to see if she could actually do any damage. When he stared at her with dead eyes, eyes that were bottomless pits empty of all emotion, and at the center of that pit was an anger so . . . terrifying that Buffy nearly screamed and tried to run the other way.

"Ow." Goku stated in a voice as dead and terrifying as his eyes. Then he crushed every single bone and cartilage joint in her hand. At that she did scream. Mostly in pain though.

Then he backhanded her so hard that her neck was actually torn away from her spine, though without tearing her head from her body, it still had the effect of killing her instantly. Goku dropped the lifeless corpse and sneered. "Weakling," he hissed, wiping a drop of Buffy's blood from his face.

"Nooooaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Goku turned at the shout and avoided Xander's meager attempt at a flying kick. Goku wanted to keep up his harassment of Buffy, but Xander demanded his attention. Almost literally. Goku wasn't sure when Xander had drawn his sword, or when Xander's claims of being unable to lift it were forgotten, but he was mildly impressed as he easily ducked and dodged the sloppy and clumsy strokes that Xander was swinging at him. He even had to avoid it at a faster than normal speed.

After several seconds of this, Goku asked Xander in a friendly, non-committal voice, "Xander, what's the point of this? You're hardly strong enough to even hold that sword, let alone use it properly. Buffy-" he was cut off momentarily by ducking forward under a high swing, "-thought she could take me. I proved her wrong because the confidence her _luck_-" he paused to emphasize his point, "was giving her, went to her head and she thought that she actually had a hope of knocking me out. It finally got so annoying," he avoided a forward thrust, "that I decided to proceed with teaching her the next lesson. Don't hit me unless you plan on hitting me, and meaning it."

With that last statement, Goku caught Xander's katana between his forefinger and his thumb. The trainer looked his student in the eye and told him in the same dead tone he had spoken to Buffy in, "I give few warnings Xander. Count this as one of them." Then he hit Xander so hard against the cheek that the human boy's neck broke in so many places it would be safe to say that it was shattered.

After the last dead body hit the floor, there was a strange quiet, almost a…() a _deathly_ quiet about the room. Goku looked around at his three pupils and noticed himself how quiet it had gotten. He waited for approximately another seven seconds before saying aloud, "Oh man," he grimaced, rubbing the back of his neck in frustration, "THIS is boring. Gotta teach myself not to kill them all at once."

Just as Buffy, Xander and Giles were starting their impromptu training session, Willow was still in the Mage Tower, in the little concrete room, (she was surprised that one of the spells in the books she was reading allowed her to find out where she was and that the gray stone walls actually _were_ concrete) having been in it for over five hours already, and reading the last few lines of a rather large tome that looked more like it held canvas paintings rather than book pages. When she finished, she quickly filed away the information she had absorbed from the book entitled, "Runes of Little Voodoo tricks."

No, she's not kidding. Sometimes having a Universal Translator in you brain, basically letting you understand and potentially speak any language in existence, was a very useful thing. Most of the time though, it was a very weird thing.

As she closed the final book of that had been on the table, it turned to vapor and disappeared before her eyes. The first time this happened Willow had totally wigged for all of a single minute, then she saw the usefulness of not leaving the books just lying around, getting in the way. Smiling that she was one more step closer to her goal, Willow reached out for the next book to memorize that was always seemingly there without even looking. When her hand grasped nothing but air and the wooden table, she looked up in surprise.

The table was empty.

"What the…" Willow started to protest before there was a flash of light and Arch Mage Amana Grael was standing before the table staring at the young witch.

"Finished already are you?" she asked in a gentle probing tone.

Willow was flabbergasted. There should have been no way for her to go through all five hundred and twenty-five books that had been on this table when she first sat down at it. "Uh…no! I mean, I shouldn't be." Pausing to gather her thoughts, Willow looked her trainer in the eye and asked, "Teacher, how long have I been in here?"

Slightly worried about the answer, Willow almost jumped out of her skin in shock when Amana answered, "Roughly about five hours. But don't worry Willow, the books wouldn't have disappeared if you did not truly read and study them all _very_ carefully."

Willow started after that. "Five hours!? I've been in here reading for only _Five hours?!_"

Amana nodded and conjured a chair before her to sit across from Willow at the table. "Now comes the hard part, young Witch. I will now test you in everything that you possibly could have learned from those books. Understand that this is not a test of wit or courage or knowledge. This is a test of magic and to guarantee that you have truly learned what you had the potential to learn here. Now, Willow, if you will please sit down, we can begin."

Calming herself, Willow nodded and sat back down in her chair. "Good. Now, tell me the six varieties of ground demon that you will find on Trachea Prime in Universe 367 of Sector G9-N42?" Amana put forth. Without even thinking about it, Willow gave her the correct answer.

Less than thirty minutes later, Amana was struggling not to be in shock as Willow passed every single one of her tests. Almost all of it was knowledge based, book type answers. It seemed that books and knowledge was where Willow was strongest. Only near the end did Amana ask for anything other than a verbal answer, and it was a demonstration of a focusing technique that Willow had memorized in a book on ancient forms of meditation. She had even tried it out herself before the test, using it to calm her nerves over the once overwhelming task of reading and getting through all of the books.

Finally, the test was over. And once again, Amana was in amazement. Nobody, in her time at the Compound anyway, had _ever_ gotten through the knowledge room in less than an entire day. She had even added to the books here because of Willow's comment on Voodoo and other darkish arts. Having kept that in mind, Amana had filled her schedule, not expecting to have to bother with Willow again for the rest of the day. So she decided to turn the youth back over to Goku to get her started on her physical training.

"Well, Willow, this is almost surprising," Amana congratulated her as she stood. She had to maintain the appearance of complete and utter control. "Because you finished so early, I'll let you join you other friends in the Main Gym. Goku should be there, putting them through the proverbial ringer I suppose."

Both magic users giggled at that. "Unfortunately, I have other business to attend to today, so I will see you either later this evening or tomorrow at the same time, do you understand?"

Willow nodded silently, rounding the corner of the table to stand beside her teacher. Then she paused as she asked her question. "Well, I do have one question. Am I done for today, I mean do I just go back to my room and do whatever?"

Arch Mage Amana Grael smiled wickedly as she answered the red witch's question. "No Willow. Goku will be filling up the rest of your schedule with his aspect of your training. Something important to remember from the "" is…"

"Maintain thy body as with thy mind so as to keep thine wits and their power," Willow quoted from the mentioned book. "I know, I know, I remember," she grumbled. She ducked her head like any teenager hearing an oft-heard lecture, so she never saw the smile that graced the Arch Mage's face.

"Right," was all the experienced wielder said before teleporting them both back to her office. Waving a hand at the red circle on the wall, she activated the MTC. Pointing at it, she ordered, "I've already programmed the MTC to take you to Goku and your friends current location. Go ahead and step through Willow. We'll continue this tomorrow unless I can get free time tonight. But don't worry, I'll take care of it. Go and be with your friends for the time. Come the time, I'll be taking up _all_ of your time."

Willow nodded and smiled a gracious grin at the blond woman before racing to the portal. The second that she was through, the portal went back to its inactive state, leaving Amana alone in the room. Sighing, she turned around and pressed a hidden button among the clutter of her desk and spoke to the air. "Move up my appointment with Archer. And cancel the dinners. My new student is going to be requiring more of my attention than I had first anticipated." The answering chime in the air told Amana that her message had been received, understood, and carried out.

The words to describe Willow's feelings when she arrived on the other side of the MTC in the gym room where Goku had just finished with the little sparring match Buffy had started, do not exist in the English language. And if they do, they belong in a dramatic horror novel or script. But how would you feel if you saw two of your best friends lying on the floor, their heads bent at very inhuman angles, their faces and heads covered in their own blood and a man that was more of a father to you than your own was slumped in a similar fashion against the wall?

Willow's eyes were immediately watering as she looked at the small amount of carnage that lay before her, at which the center of stood Goku, looking troubled. "Wha…wha…whut-what happened here?" Willow quietly stuttered.

Goku looked up in surprise. "Oh! Willow! Uh, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"Amana-uh, I mean Arch Mage Amana told me that I had finished earlier than she had expected. She told me to come here and you would-" Willow stopped talking when something stranger than death began to happen in the room.

Buffy and Xander's broken bodies were suddenly surrounded by a bright golden-yellow glow, highlighting every inch of their skin until it was so bright that Willow had to turn away and she couldn't see their bodies anymore. In the next second, the golden light disappeared even faster than it had appeared in the first place and there were Buffy and Xander lying on the floor, groaning and complaining about something, but very, very much alive.

Willow felt like fainting, but was prevented by Buffy's waking statement. "_Ow_ yourself Goku!" she shouted at the Saiyan. Xander, always the first to notice, immediately ran over to the young Vampire Slayer and asked in a panicked tone, "Buffy, are you all right?"

Buffy rudely shoved off Xander's comforting hand and snapped at him, "I'm _fine_ Xander. Thanks to our immortality." She muttered the last with as much sarcasm as she could muster at the Saiyan trainer. Buffy stalked angrily away from the two taller dark-haired warriors. She got about five steps before stopping upon seeing Willow standing there like she was about to have a heart attack or something.

"Hey Will, when you'd get here?" Buffy asked casually, though inside her guts gave a slight lurch at seeing that worried frown in Willow's forehead.

Willow, still in shock, started pointing at the floor where they had been just a minute before, stuttering, "What…but…I…you…what…?" Buffy's eyes widened as she realized that Willow had seen them dead on the floor. Immediately she moved forward to help her absolute best friend in the world. "Oh god, Wills…" Buffy trailed off as she embraced the traumatized teen in her arms. The second that the shorter Slayer was beside her, Willow began to break down from the emotional overload.

Seeing this little drama play out in front of him, Goku rolled his eyes and groaned something about newbies. Noticing that Xander was still beside him, but his eyes locked to the female pair, Goku began to think of ways to actually get these kids motivated. Admitted, it was their first day, but…well, hell. He had been almost as bad, though he counted himself lucky that he was the only one to go through his training.

Sighing, Goku realized the only way to get them through everything was to keep them busy. Not give them enough time to think about things, to work out the pain, to realize how changed everything would be from this moment forth. Clearing his throat loudly he managed to draw the girls' attention as well as Watcher's and Warrior X's.

"Willow, I'm not sure if your Mage teacher explained everything to you, but I'm sure that you remember that the Powers promised you immortality?" Goku asked the elfin redhead.

Taking a deep breath and extricating herself from Buffy, Willow nodded to her best friend and turned to look at Goku. Goku was slightly impressed, but his expression showed nothing. Willow nodded and spoke with very little tremor in her voice. "My magic teacher is the 2nd Arch Mage, Amana Grael. For some reason she hadn't planned on me finishing my lessons this early, so I have her consent to spend the rest of my day here, with you guys. As for the whole immortality thing, I think I just got my proof, huh?"

Scratching the back of his head, Goku grinned sheepishly saying, "Uh, yeah. Look Willow I'm sorry about what you saw coming in here, but…well Buffy started it!"

The accused looked pointedly back at the accuser and shouted, "I did…well, OK so I did, but you didn't have to kill us, _again_!" she finished much quieter than when she began. Willow's eyes shot wide open. "Again?"

Goku shrugged. "It's what I call sparring. Best way to train somebody in my opinion. Rather than learn only theory and technique, you actually fight it out, learning how your body can react to the techniques and how well it works. I only get lethal when my opponents get lethal, sloppy, or too annoying in Buffy's case. I've already warned X and Slayer, now I'm warning you and the rest of your team. Don't attack me unless you are prepared to be attacked, and only hit me if you plan on hitting me and _meaning_ it. I don't really care if you were swinging your hardest Slayer. Lesson 1, don't waste your energy by attacking just to cause one little more bite of pain. Always go for either the kill, or the end of the fight. Decide that before you even face your opponent. Are you going to kill him, are you going to beat him, or are you going to embarrass him?"

"Embarrass? Like you're doing to us?" Buffy snorted.

"No, what I'm doing to you is called 'feeling you out'!" Goku corrected by getting in her face, though it would be more chest to face. "Normally the first week is spent in such, but your schedules, as I have said are a little different. Normally we'd just be talking about whatever while I showed you a few basic moves and you showed me all of yours. But no, I have to get you guys into a shape your bodies have never been in before! I have to get you stronger, faster, more powerful than you can imagine at this moment, and I have to do it at an accelerated pace. Now I am sorry if you are not having fun Buffy, but you knew from the moment that the Powers explained everything to you that this was not _supposed_ to be fun! It's life and death and if I have to kill every single one of you a billion times over to teach you how to stay alive, then by the Powers I will kill you one billion and one times!"

After this tirade, the Slayer team hung their heads in embarrassment, until their leader, Slayer, decided that she had had enough feeling sorry for herself as an excuse to be a bitch. All the reason she needed was standing right in front of her anyway.

Gathering herself, Buffy stepped forward to face Goku and looked up into his eyes. He saw the fire there; she saw the arrogant determination in his. "So what's next?" Buffy asked.

Meanwhile, in another area of the Compound, specifically the Mage Tower, Arch Mage 2, also know as the Second Arch Mage, Arch Mage Rank 2, the former Sorceress Witch made Arch Mage, and as of today "Willow's Teacher", was having a very important discussion with her colleague, Arch Mage 3. Also called "Archer". He was a minotaur.

"I'm telling you Archer," Amana stressed as she sat down behind her desk, he remained standing, "she's got it. I've only ever known one other . . . entity that has been able to absorb magical knowledge so quickly. And you know who I'm talking about!"

The minotaur snorted, a loud noise. "While I am willing to entertain helping you out with another trainee, some of the time, Amana, just because you happen to believe she could be a prodigy is no reason for the both of us to _directly_ Teach her. We don't want to overwhelm the human, do we? Besides, one has to take into consideration that her magical reserves are very low, and time needs to be allowed for them to be exercised. If suddenly the both of us are testing her, teaching her, and getting her to exercise her talents all of the time, it doesn't even leave room for her to catch her breath, let alone allow her reserves to build up at all."

"Have _you_," Amana suddenly snapped at the large creature, "ever heard of someone, human or otherwise, getting through the first _week_ of book reading in the _first half _of the _first morning_ of training?! I couldn't even give her next weeks books to read because I can't get a hold of Tarot, whose got a number of them for several of her own students."

"Well," Archer shrugged, "if you're right about the girl, we'd only need them for the afternoon."

"Don't laugh," Amana could see the minotaur was struggling to contain his chuckles. "This could be a serious matter. What if I'm right? And this girl is a prodigy? Then what?"

"What do you think 'what'?" Archer turned the question around. "We do what we're supposed to do. Teach the girl everything we can, then turn her over to the one being that is still teaching _us_. But I'm still not convinced. Yes, I heard the rumors about what she did yesterday," Archer held up his hand to forestall any more arguments from his friend, "But even a fireball spell, a shield-barrier, and that she was smart enough not to even enter the labyrinth in the first place, does not make her a magical prodigy. Even . . . even _he_ was never a prodigy. He says so all the time. She just probably reads a lot and has a photographic memory."

"And even if she did, it's more than that," Amana argued. "She didn't just memorize the books, she _understood_ them! And her reserves are already increasing. What do you think the first thing I did was? Here!"

She handed him a file folder with a sheaf of papers in it. Archer accepted it and opened to read. "What am I looking at here?" he rumbled.

"The results of the tests I ran on her. Double-checked through the automated scanners."

Archer, as much as a minotaur could, blanched at what he was reading. "The machines registered her magic as several scales higher than what you did!"

"They're functioning perfectly, as am I. There's also to consider that I was looking at her core of magic, whereas the machines look at her life force as well. But they aren't that far off from each other, are they?"

"With only a month of training she could be at Mage level!" Archer exclaimed, still looking at the file in his hands.

"I think she's already at that level of potential, she just doesn't know how to access it yet," Amana explained to him.

"By the end of the Six Weeks..."

"She'll definitely be a Power Mage. And depending on how well we do, she could specialize and become the ranking master easily. Archer. She's a practicing _wiccan_. Just a practitioner, but she really believes as well. Thing is, from my conversations with her, she's also a born Jew."

Archer winced at that.

Amana nodded, but continued, "It seems, to me almost, that she's, in her own beliefs anyway, twisted the two together into a variation of Christianity, only rather than Mary, Jesus and God, she worships the God, Goddess, and Nature."

"Well, that's your specialty," Archer handed back the folder. "I'll teach her in battle magics and the like. You can fill in the basics and everything else she wants to know."

"Agreed. But I'd still like to bring you in earlier than we'd previously thought."

"I'll think about it," the minotaur shrugged. "Until then though, no more talk about her being some kind of magical prodigy. There are enough rumors about this . . . _Slayer Team_ as it is without adding to it."

"Very well," Amana reluctantly agreed as Archer left.

"Now we finish what we started in the Endurance Training Gym," Goku answered Buffy's question. "It seems Willow got done rather quickly with whatever magic training she had to do for today. Her Teacher contacted me while I was getting you and Xander warmed up, which is why we came back here and waited for her. Now, Witch, let's get you caught up."

He turned to the black-clad redhead and crossed his arms.

"Start running. Along the wall, doesn't matter which direction you go in, just start running around this room until I tell you to stop. No breaks, no collapsing in exhaustion, if you're breathing hard, just keep breathing and keep running until I tell you to stop. And you might want to do that stretch I taught you earlier before you get started. Now."

Willow 'eeped' but immediately started stretching the way Goku had shown her and the others earlier that morning. Once she was done with that, she quickly ran to the wall and started jogging alongside the entire perimeter of the room and didn't stop until Goku finally told her to.

"Buffy, 500 push-ups. On your finger. You can pick which one to get started with, but once you finish one set, move onto another finger and do another five hundred, until you do all ten fingers." He glared when she didn't immediately move, while she glared back, but after about a minute of that, she finally fell to the ground and started with her right index finger.

"Xander, c'mere," Goku waved the teen over to him.

"I want you to stand on your hands," he told him.

"Huh?" Xander was confused.

"And stay that way until I tell you different. If you fall down, get back on your hands immediately. No breaks. Got me?"

"Yeah, OK. Why?"

Goku, rather than be frustrated, was actually glad of the question.

"Because Buffy already has perfect balance. You, on the other hand, I've already seen trip over your own feet. Don't worry, when she's done with her running, I'll have Willow join you. It's supposed to help you find your true center of balance. And it works. Now on your hands."

Rather than ask anymore questions, despite not quite being satisfied with the answer he'd gotten, Xander got down on the ground and pushed his body up into the air as he struggled to balance on his hands in the extra gravity his GEO suit was putting on him. Not that he was ever really that good at doing it in normal gravity to be honest.

Goku then turned around, but before he'd even done that much, Giles was already back in his original position, legs crossed, Nightblade laying across his lap while his eyes were shut tight as he meditated.

Shrugging, Goku then turned to further motivate Willow, who was starting to lag a bit in her jogging. He quickly got her 'running' and made sure she kept the pace for long enough to satisfy him.

A few hours later, Buffy got up, having completed five hundred push-ups, on single fingertip, for _each_ of her fingertips. She was starting to really feel the burn now, but strangely, that only made her feel even eager for more, which confused her and exhilarated her at the same time. Nevertheless, she got up, caught up to the jogging-Goku and running-Willow, and asked their Trainer, "Finished. So what's next?"

Goku almost tripped over himself as Buffy surprised him with that question, but he didn't, and he even made sure that Willow didn't stop herself from the same surprise. Then he turned to glare at Slayer with a mix of annoyance and mild awe. "You're already finished with all that?" he asked, incredulous.

She just shrugged back, not even breathing hard with the run. In fact, the run seemed to have cooled her down some from the exertion of her push-ups, he noticed.

"She's..." Willow huffed, deep gasping breaths coming between each of her words, "... she's... a... Slay... yer..." she just kept gasping for air after that.

Again, the blonde just shrugged, but verbally answered, "Wills has a point. It usually takes me less than a week to get used to Giles' training sessions and he has to come up with something else. Of course... this is the first time I've been challenged. Giles' training usually just makes me sweat until I get used to it."

Goku just blinked.

"Fine," he grumbled, "go join Xander in what he's doing, but do push-ups at the same time. One thousand with both hands. Another thousand on fingertips, then two thousand apiece on one hand's fingertips for each hand, and _IF_ you can get all that done before I tell Xander to stop trying to do handstands, then do another thousand on a single fingertip for each fingertip without using the other hand to further balance yourself."

Buffy blinked, then asked, "But... then how do I switch hands when I finish with the fingers on my first hand?"

Goku shrugged again, and answered, "Tell you what. Instead of just switching fingers, you have to push yourself off the ground and catch yourself with the new finger. Now get over there!"

It just so happened that they were coming up to a corner when he shouted that command, and Buffy was feeling a bit... frisky at the moment. So when she shot him a mischievous grin, he began to feel real worry all of a sudden.

That's when she suddenly raced ahead slightly. But rather than just running faster to where Xander was, she leaped forward slightly and started doing cartwheels, which quickly developed into back-flips and a full gymnastic routine that soon brought her to the corner wall. The corner wall that she then, in the midst of a high-speed flip, landed her feet on and then ran up for several steps before jumping off of it in a somersault that actually brought her parallel to the wall they'd just been running alongside for a couple seconds.

A couple seconds was all the blonde Slayer needed to complete her somersault, twist herself mid-air, and plant her feet back along the wall as though she were running on the ground again. She kept her speed up and increased her distance until she was, roughly, straight across from Xander. She then bent her knees close to her in the half-instant before gravity, even the enhanced gravity, could take full hold of her and then utilizing the full advantage of her Slayer strength, launched herself off of the wall straight towards Xander's position.

Unfortunately, despite their already impressive exercises, she didn't have quite the strength needed to get herself all the way there, so when she finally descended back down to the floor, rather than just landing on her feet, or even just falling down, she caught herself in a roll along the ground, both to absorb the impact and to maintain her momentum, as she flung herself out of the roll and into another flipping, cartwheeling gymnastic routine the remainder of the distance until she landed right next to Xander, from a jump, on her hands, which she then stabilized herself on to mirror Xander's own handstand. Except perhaps a bit more balanced.

After about a minute, once she was certain that she wasn't going to fall or anything, she smiled, and then began steadily and methodically doing handstand push-ups, making sure to count each one. And then going fifty over from what Goku told her to do so far.

Goku just stopped and stared at the girl as she did her little stunt. Chewing on his lip for a bit, he began to wonder about his trainees, and their "overwhelming" schedule. And that maybe they didn't have it as hard as he thought. Maybe they even had it easier than they should have it.

Deciding to put off any decisions until he knew more about what these kids could do, he flashed ahead, back next to Willow, who'd known better than to stop with him to also stare at Buffy's antics, and urged the girl to increase her pace to a "fast run".

Four hours later, Buffy was on the pinky finger of her left hand, rounding off her nine hundredth push-up on that finger. Of course it would be easy to just bend her elbow, but Buffy wanted to feel challenged. She was getting a prime opportunity to actually _enjoy_ being the Slayer, and she was damn well going to take full advantage of it, so what she actually ended up doing was fully extending her arms and even her legs and toes, stretching her entire body as much as she possibly could, and then keeping her entire frame as still and smooth as a steel piston, she lowered herself until her nose was pressed flat against the floor. To add difficulty, after she'd moved from hands to all-fingertips, on the downward motion she also tucked her legs in, though keeping her torso as straight as ever, looking like she was trying to sit on her knees, upside down. Of course on the up-motion, she stretched her body all the way out once more, including her legs and feet.

One thousand hand push-ups, one thousand push-ups with her fingertips (and sometimes nose) as the only parts of her body against the floor, then two thousand single-hand push-ups, again with just her fingertips, with her right hand, another two thousand fingertip push-ups with her left hand, and then, because she didn't want to have to start all over or break her fingers, she then started on her single-finger push-ups, starting with her right index finger. After those thousand were finished, she paused for an extra second, taking a deep breath, and then using just her right index finger, "jumped" about two centimeters off the ground for a single second, but it was long enough for her to put her right middle finger in place and catch herself on the digit, amazingly keeping her balance with minimum struggle. She then started the process all over again, working her way through her right hand's ring finger, pinky finger, and finally thumb.

When she got to her right thumb, and one thousand push-ups with that finger finished, she took an even deeper breath, and managed to "jump" six centimeters up, and stay aloft for roughly three, two-and-a-half seconds, but she got her left index finger in place and maintained her balance with even less struggle than she'd had so far in 'switching fingers'. She then worked her way through her left hand fingers, one by one, until she'd arrived at her left pinky finger.

Of course, during _all _of this, Buffy had been doing the full-body stretching, and the going down till her nose was smashed against the floor, and bending and stretching her legs in time as well.

She was tired, but more than that, she was actually getting a full work-out. Not just "get sweaty and then your done" thing that Giles always made her do. But a "feel the burn, getting really stronger, muscle-tearing" workout!

What was really surprising her though was how she felt about that. She honestly felt like she could keep doing this kind of thing for the rest of her life. Literally! And what's more amazing to the socially-minded teenager was that she was having _fun_!

Xander, right next to her, had finally managed to keep himself in a, somewhat, stable handstand. Unfortunately, he'd found out the hard way that that was all he could do for right now. He'd tried, once, to mimic Buffy in doing push-ups. He then spent another five minutes getting back into his handstand and did not try to do any more push-ups.

Giles was still meditating, but the others noticed that he was sweating just as much as they were. Maybe more in fact.

Willow had been running for the past four hours and discovered, the hard way, that when injuries, aka exertions, become "life-threatening", such as a heart-attack or lungs bursting or blood seeping into air passages, clogging airways, and the like happen, their immortality immediately kicks in and starts a slow, moment-by-moment healing process. In short, if you're right on the edge of being killed by your own actions, say running, it will keep them on the 'safe side' of that edge, but it won't pull them back from said edge by even a millimeter.

But that's only after an injury exists, as Willow further discovered when Goku gave her a ten minute break to "catch her breath" (she'd been bleeding from her nose and mouth and coughing up more blood and puke than carbon dioxide) which allowed her immortality to repair the damage. Or rather, stop her blood from entering her lungs, and stitching a few of her lethally-torn muscles back together and also keeping her heart from failing, but only just.

So when Goku got her back to running, Willow was actually in more pain than before her break, as her immortality forcefully kept her injuries from killing her, and her muscles that she'd been working all morning, ones that having torn apart wouldn't kill her, were screaming in sheer agony as she forced her body to move when all it wanted and needed to do was stop and heal itself.

Willow later discussed this with the others, as her mind over-analyzed her discomfort and what was happening with her body via immortality even as she ran through her pain. Their Powers-granted immortality did _not_ augment their healing in anyway. If anything, at certain points it even slowed it down, keeping them from healing as they normally would. The only exception that Willow had seen was when Buffy, Xander, and Giles had all been killed and then 'miraculously' revived, fully-healed of all injuries, even muscle-tears. Which meant that rather than wait a week or so to see the development, working their bodies into goo, and then being "killed" and then immediately revived, they could grow stronger and stronger depending on how hard they worked at it.

As it was, Willow had not yet been allowed to die, but she desperately wanted to, as Goku kept pushing her on, at the same 'fast run' pace, despite how much her body wanted and needed to rest. Thanks to her immortality, unfortunately, running until she was dead was no longer an option.

It was just as Buffy switched to her left thumb that Goku finally allowed Willow to slow back down to the 'run' pace, and kept her at it for another hour, while Buffy finished up the exercises Goku had given her. In less than six hours no less.

Three reps from her last bit, Goku suddenly shouted at Xander, "Warrior X! That's enough for now! Drop and start doing push-ups. Ordinary push-ups! Slayer!!"

Buffy froze, halfway down.

"Cool down, do some stretches," he paused with a smirk, "do that pacing that you like to do. Now, please."

Buffy stayed where she was, while Goku told Willow she could slow down to 'jog' but to keep moving for right now. The blonde teen was tempted to finish her last few bits and then do what Goku told her, but then he snapped back at her, "SLAYER! I told you earlier, only do that until I told X there to stop doing his handstands. He's already doing what I told him to do. Now COOL DOWN!!"

How he managed to move between running alongside Willow and screaming in her face so quickly without her even noticing him move, Buffy didn't quite know. But she knew when not to push, so she just jumped off her thumb into a somersault and onto her feet and started stretching, slowing the movement of her body gradually in order to prevent cramps later on.

After everyone, even Giles, who was not done with his meditation, was cooled down and more or less worked out, Goku stood before them, while Buffy finished pacing to stand next to her Team.

"So now what?" Buffy asked, tired but still exhilarated.

Goku smirked at her as he told her the answer.

"Lunch?" Buffy asked incredulously for what had to be the tenth time as she stood in line behind Goku on the floating barge called the "Movable Mess".

"Yes," Goku answered once again, "Lunch. And a big one at that. You've got to understand something here kids. You aren't normal anymore. And I don't mean because of your secrets or whatever powers or roles you played before. I mean because you are here, and you are one of us. One of Good."

"Don't you mean one of the 'good guys'?" Xander asked from behind Willow over the din.

Goku shrugged and grabbed the tray that materialized in front of him before answering. "Everybody's a good guy at some point in their lives Xander. But being one of Good, on the side of Good in the Tournament of the Powers, the Tournament of Good and Evil, well, that just adds to it. We're all on the side of Good, no matter what we are or were before hand."

"Getting back to how we're not normal anymore?" Willow grabbed her tray after Buffy.

Goku nodded and received a piece of plastic with a number on it and a PADD on his tray. He turned back to Willow and noticed them looking in confusion at his actions, "It's our serving number and menu. I have a personalized menu, but each of you get one PADD, these gray slates. I'll explain at our table, but for right now keep the line moving." They did.

"In answer to your question Willow," Goku continued after Giles had exited from the line and they were all following close behind their Trainer through the loud and boisterous crowd, "Training affects different species in different ways. Sometimes even affecting individuals different from the rest. When I was growing up, I liked to get into fights and was rather athletic, but not into sports. Other than that and being stronger than just about everybody else, I was a regular kid. When I started training in the Martial Arts, I just got stronger. When I came here, I got in touch with my Saiyan heritage, my roots."

They sat down at a round table that was empty and had just enough space for the five of them and seemed to be in the center of a space surrounded by filled tables. "Something that Saiyans are very different than humans in is a higher metabolic rate. I age actually a little slower than the average male my age, minus the whole immortality deal, but my energy levels are always in need of replenishing, and my body needs constant workout to stay at maximum strength. I won't become a weakling, but if I stop training altogether, I still lose strength."

"Higher metabolic rate? What do you mean?" Giles asked, clearly confused.

Goku thought for several moments before coming to a feasible explanation. "You know how Special Ops Soldiers in the Marines, Seals, and SAS eat?" Giles, after a hesitation, slowly nodded. "Saiyans eat five times more than that, just as fast. In half the time." He added.

Goku didn't have time to see everyone's shocked faces as he turned when the robotic waiter, little more than a box-screen with two multi-jointed arms hanging from the ceiling, came floating their way.

"Ah, Cecil!" Goku called, grabbing the robot's attention. It flew over right away and stopped just above the outside of their table, waiting for their orders. "Tell you what, I'll have my usual special please. My trainees here will have whatever has been prepared on their own menus. Please look under Slayer, Witch, Watcher, and Warrior X."

A moment later, the black screen blinked to life and green lines shaped into a digital face answered with a horrible French accent, "Of course sir. And, may I ask, how many servings will you be requiring today?"

"Oh, uh, just one each for them," Goku answered. He seemed to think a little more before finishing with, "And I'll have six servings please Cecil."

Immediately all noise in the Movable Mess, save that of the hover engines and a dropping utensil or two somewhere, just stopped. Buffy and the others looked around, finding their table to be the center of attention. Or rather Goku as the center of attention.

The robot too seemed to be staring too. "Are-are, are you _sure_ that you truly need _six_ servings sir?" To cover up his blunder in etiquette, the robot hastily added, "Because of health issues that is sir."

Goku nodded and handed Cecil his PADD. "Six servings of my usual," he ordered.

Silently, the robot took the offered PADD and rolled back towards the kitchen to prepare and get the food. The Slayerettes stared after the robot, some of the other eyes in the room following it as well, before seeing that Goku was still the center of attention.

"Uh, Goku?" Buffy asked. "Why is everyone staring at us? Or rather, at you?"

Without looking up from the table, Goku answered with a smirk, "You're about to get your answer Buffy." Five seconds later, the biggest creature the humans had seen since The Powers That Be came right up behind Goku.

Size was the first thing anybody would notice about this guy. Second thing was that he was purple, and alien, and had a _very_ large mouth from which two tusks emerged prominently. The third thing that Buffy, at the least, noticed was his outfit. It was nearly identical to what she, Xander and Goku were wearing, except stretched almost four times as big. And no sword. Instead he had a large black belt, though on him it looked just right, with a strange high-tech looking belt buckle.

Buffy looked him up and down, arching her right eyebrow in interest at the strange fighter. Well strange to her, who had never before seen something non-human that hadn't been a demon or something to kill. Wanting to stretch herself, Buffy opened up with her newly discovered sixth sense. She was nearly overwhelmed by the onslaught her brain received from the large number, along with the large sources of power her sense detected in the small room.

The moment that Buffy opened up with her sensing ability, Goku and almost every other fighter in the room immediately gave her sharp looks. Buffy was too overwhelmed to notice, trying to make sense of the new data her mind was attempting to computate, just staring off into space at nothing in particular.

Goku closed his eyes and sighed. If the others at the table didn't know any better, they'd think he was embarrassed by something.

"_**Hey Girl!**_" the purple warrior behind Goku growled in a completely inhuman language. "_**You'd better reign in your curiosity if you know what's good for you! Nobody here likes being focused on too much! Especially me!**_"

Buffy finally figured out her new ability. She focused back on Goku, the only other power she was familiar with, which gave her perspective enough to realize that she was practically catatonic sitting at the table. Shaking herself and physically shaking her head to clear the lethargy that had creeped in, Buffy blinked hard before looking back to Goku.

Catching his hard glare, Buffy gulped and hastily apologized. "I'm sorry. I…just was trying to orient myself. Well, come on! You only taught me how to use my Slayer sense like this yesterday, you expect me to _not_ try and use it on my own?"

"Actually I fully expect you to try stretching yourself," Goku responded, much to the group's surprise. "However, I would appreciate it if you could allow etiquette to dictate your actions a little more. Basically Buffy, what you just did was the equivalent of going up to each and every person in this room and put your head on their shoulders to listen what they were talking or thinking about. Everyone here can sense powers and power levels, and thus are also sensitive to detecting others using that same ability on them. In other words, it was very rude Buffy," he summarized.

Buffy gulped one more time, this time lowering her head and blushing furiously, now understanding her error. "Sorry," she apologized once again, much quieter though.

After this, most of the room turned back to their meals or conversations, now the topic of subject being primarily Goku and his new recruits. Yet the huge purple warrior behind them remained. Goku let the creature wait another whole minute before addressing it by name.

"What is it Gortung?" he asked impatiently.

The purple alien, Gortung, grunted and then walked around so that it was now behind Xander, but facing Goku. "_**I'd just like to know Goku, as I'm sure most in here would, what's so special about first day recruits that you actually require '**_**six' **_**special's. You only eat so much when preparing for a Tournament or in the sixth week of training for a truly gifted warrior. What makes these guys so special that you are so hungry?**_"

The newbies were left shaking their heads in wonder. Their Universal Translators gave them a flawless translation, but at the same time gave them the information that some of the meanings had been lost or changed along with the word as the languages between Gortung's native and English were just too great for comparison.

Goku just shrugged and stared back at the huge, vicious looking fighter. "They show a strong potential. That and their team leader has asked that I stop going so slow with them. In order to do my best, I need to be at full energy. Anything else is either none of your business, or emplaced by the Council. Any other questions Gortung?"

Growling slightly, the large purple, tusked fighter gave a negative indication and rounded the table to go back to his seat. On his way he "accidentally" bumped Buffy, knocking her into the table painfully.

Failing to reign in her temper, which seemed to have magnified since her devastating and embarrassing losses to Goku, Buffy jumped up from her seat and shouted, "Hey!" and shoved the purple mountain away. Buffy stopped the second after she realized what she'd done, as Gortung, growling louder and more ominously than any vampire could ever hope to copy, stood up and glared threateningly back at her.

Buffy glared right back, just as hard, not knowing what else to do. Thinking that Goku would stop her, or maybe even save her if it came to that, Buffy walked up to the huge alien, as it did to her, until they were right in front of each other.

Buffy almost cricked her neck looking Gortung in the eye, but she didn't back down. Neither did he.

"_**What did you say?**_" Gortung growled out.

Smirking, "I said, you bulbous mountain of putrid worm stench, watch were you lay your sasquatch copied appendages you call feet, and keep your ugly _purple_ shit-faced _ass_ out of my face!" She continued the insult, following with her Translator's suggestions, by pinching her nose and open teeth grinning up at the fighter, which was the same as giving it the finger.

Growling in a way that the humans thought sounded extraordinarily like laughter, which their translators then confirmed, Gortung extend its hand, with seven fingers that it was large enough for, and pushed Buffy slightly with one of its fingers. She rolled with the soft impact, like if Xander had play-punched her shoulder. She smiled genuinely back at it, which it understood due to its own translator, and then she shoved him back. He hardly moved.

The laughing growl increasing, Gortung finger-shoved her again, with a little more force, causing her to take a step back. Her smile now as fake as her good mood, Buffy reached up and forcefully shoved the creature in the abdomen, surprising everybody but Goku when it too had to take a step back from the hit. Its growl now lost some of its humor and it full-hand shoved her, hard. She nearly knocked over the table behind her when she rammed against it.

Repressing the urge to growl some herself, Buffy got back up, stalked up to her current opponent and using both hands, shoved against his chest with as much force as she could possibly muster without holding anything back. She surprised even herself when he suddenly flew back at her shove, until he hit the far wall, over the tables and various patrons between his starting and stopping places.

To further her surprise, when Gortung didn't immediately get back up, nobody went to help him, nobody attacked her on his behalf, and in fact, nobody looked like they cared much at all. Everybody was just sitting around, either eating or talking with their neighbors. Snorting, Buffy turned around and walked back to her table just as the food was arriving.

Sitting down, Buffy noticed that there were no less than five of the robot screens hovering about the table, and the only one giving her looks over what she'd just done was Willow, who was staring at her in concern.

"Buffy, are you all right?" the redhead asked.

Buffy nodded and responded shortly, "Yeah. So, Goku, what's for lunch? I'm starving enough as it is." The Saiyan just looked to the lead robot for answer.

Immediately plates began to be set before them. Buffy first, got what looked like baked chicken and several vegetables, Willow got some tofu looking junk, and Giles a cheeseburger and fries. Xander actually got a tray of food, which caused everybody at the table to stare at him when it was sat down. On the central plate were four Twinkies, three Hohos, and a slice of extra cheese pizza. There were several other plates of various types of deserts and cakes too.

When Xander noticed them all staring he gave them a look that said while he also asked aloud, "What?"

As for Goku, the first plate sat in front of him held something like a large juicy steak, but not cooked too much. The other seven plates held noodles, filling the plate to the brim and at least several dozen centimeters high. The others stared as all of the plates were set before their Trainer.

"Now I see why everybody was staring. I'd stare too if I heard somebody was going to eat that much." Xander commented.

Goku looked up, "You ain't seen nothing yet," he said just before he began to eat.

Seventeen hours later, the group was walking, actually it was more sympathetic to dragging themselves through the MTC into the Training gym, the room where their day started out in.

"I hurt. I am hurt. There are parts of me that hurt that I didn't know _could_ hurt," whined Willow as she stumbled against the wall and slid to the floor.

Xander followed her in similar condition and slumped down beside her. For once he had nothing to say, which was surprising because he'd spent most of the training talking, making nonsensical sarcastic comments, or complaining that it was impossible. But he still did it all.

Giles, looking wearied and worn, came after them but managed to remain on his feet. Then Goku, looking the same as ever, and Buffy, who looked tired but for a reason beyond the lesser mortals, happy. In fact she looked so good as to say chipper. Xander and Willow decided that they didn't like this.

"Buff, you usually hate training," Xander mentioned from the floor, "What is so great about this that you are now actually _enjoying_ this?"

"Yes, I quite agree," Giles added. "Normally I have to threaten and lecture you to get any cooperation of any sort. What makes this so much more different?"

"Yeah Buffy, why are you so chipper after all of that?" Willow whined quietly.

Buffy smiled, but tiredly.

"I don't know," she said honestly. "I guess it's like you said Goku, I'm finally getting challenged enough that I'm getting in touch with my inner-Slayer. I'll admit guys, I feel just as tired as all of you look, but I also feel kinda, I don't know…good about it."

"It's understandable Buffy," Giles commented. "The Slayer would naturally adapt to such a strenuous ordeal very easily, but I still find it remarkable that you aren't affected more by the training we've all undergone here."

Buffy just shrugged and just kind of stood there. Goku meanwhile was setting up something with his Global again, but nobody really took notice by this point. It had become commonplace in regards to the dark-haired Trainer, enough that they finally figured that if he wanted them to know what it was he was doing, they'd find out eventually.

Suddenly Giles grunted and had to sit down almost immediately. Xander and Willow, already on the floor just stayed there and Buffy found her breath becoming labored once again. She had learned that it only happened when Goku had increased the gravity, requiring her lungs and bodies' need for more oxygen.

"So, increasing the gravity again Goku?" Buffy asked.

Goku nodded absently and tapped something on his Global. Finally he seemed satisfied and closed the device and walked to the center of the room. Buffy was about to follow, but she noticed that her friends did not really want to move, so she turned back to help them. Reaching for Willow's hand she added as encouragement, "Come on, up you go!" Grabbing both teenagers' hands, pulling them up with her subdued strength, she helped them to their feet.

Groaning with great complaint, they managed to get to stand, and immediately wanted to go back down. "Ah, ah, ah, no you don't. I'm doing this, your doing this, Giles is doing this. Complain all you want, but your still doing it." Buffy ordered.

"Can I at least take off the jacket?" Xander begged.

"No!" Buffy and Goku answered simultaneously. They shared a look at their agreement, but quickly moved on.

Giles managed to get up on his own and the four lined up in front of Goku in the center of the room. Buffy felt what he was planning, but decided against comment. "All right, here's what we're going to do. So far I've had you focus on primarily strength and endurance training, the weights, the higher gravities, and the rest of it. Now I'm more or less going to be teaching you the basic techniques. Now, as you learned this morning, they may be obvious and simplistic, but with repetition, not to mention when you focus on speed and accuracy they can quickly become very important. Buffy, this time no helping. If you think you're finished, then just keep going. This isn't a competition, this is getting you all to the same level of fighting that you can at the least face off against each other and come to a draw."

"First, ready position," Goku showed them what was basically a modified horse stance, one foot a half-a-step in front or behind the other, keeping the feet at just outside of shoulder width, and right arm drawn back by his sides, his left brought up in a guard position before his head. They copied him as near as they could.

"Xander, right punch," he ordered. Xander hesitated, not understanding. Then he punched his right fist straight out, like they had done that morning for their first waking hours.

"Good," Goku complimented. "Now I want you to keep doing that until I tell you to stop, understand? Always returning to the ready position before throwing another punch, alright?" Xander grimaced and almost made a face, but nodded and did as ordered.

"Giles, go meditate," Goku ordered.

Batting an eyebrow, Giles just shrugged and turned around and went to the MTC and told it to take him to their quarters. "Hey!" Buffy shouted. "Where's he going?" Goku glared hard at her, but answered anyway.

"He requires a different training regimen Buffy. The sword trains him. I only train him to work with the rest of you. He needs to meditate with it at regular intervals or…something dangerous might happen."

"Dangerous how?" Buffy asked, ignoring Xander beside her who was still punching away.

"I can't tell you," he reluctantly confessed. "At least not yet anyway. I'm sure that Giles might be able to better explain it himself, but just be aware that he needs to meditate every now and again. It's kind of important for the Blades for some reason."

Buffy grimaced, but for the moment accepted this argument. She'd had enough of them with the trainer today to last them all for a year. She nodded and waited for his next instructions.

"Willow, I know that you're still new to this, and I really hate sounding like a corny drill sergeant, but drop and do push-ups until you drop dead. Literally. Xander and Buffy are both stronger than you, so we're going to have to spend more time focusing on that and endurance with you, okay?"

Sighing, and resigning herself to her fate, Willow nodded and 'dropped' to the ground and started pushing herself up in ten times normal gravity, where her arm muscles got ten times the workout.

"Buffy, attack," Goku ordered.

Slayer didn't so much as hesitate. The second the word fully left his lips, Goku was dodging and ducking under her tired hits and kicks. This went on for at least thirty more minutes, and Willow had surprised herself by continuing her own exercise despite how exhausted she already was from other such exercises from earlier in the day.

"Xander, change arms!" Goku suddenly ordered, ducking under a high kick from Slayer.

The training session continued in this fashion for another thirty minutes, which is about when Willow finally dropped to the ground and could no longer move her arms, no matter what she tried to do. Willow's sudden weakness caused Slayer to freeze for a moment, a moment that Goku used to punch her, "lightly", across the face.

She turned her head slowly back to him, her lip cut, and glared at the one-eighth Saiyan. They continued to spar, though Buffy was seriously distracted until Willow rolled over onto her side and tried to get back up. She couldn't.

Finally, Goku was tired of Slayer's distraction and ordered Xander to help the redhead up. He immediately did so, and was about to continue his punching the air, when Goku stopped Buffy's attacks and indicated that for the moment the fight was over.

"Xander, you take over sparring with Buffy. Don't worry about hurting each other, just do your best, and Buffy, if you want to you can teach him some moves. I'm going to take Willow to the Clinic to get her healed up real quick. Don't worry you two, it's nothing serious, just some basic relaxation and massage techniques." He explained.

Buffy started a little and asked worriedly, "Uh, not…"Massage Therapy"?"

Goku shook his head as he easily picked the small girl up and threw her over his shoulder, "No, it shouldn't be that bad, just something to relieve the pain and help her muscles to heal faster and grow properly. That's all."

"OK, just, bring her back safely, 'kay?" Buffy granted wistfully.

Goku nodded and Willow mumbled something about Buffy not worrying, but nobody really heard it.

Xander and Buffy just stood there in the training room for several moments staring after their best friend in each of their existence's. Ever since he had first laid eyes on her, Xander had wanted to be alone in a room with a sexy, sweaty Buffy. Unfortunately he was too tired, too heavy, and too worried about Willow to try and take advantage of the situation, such as it was.

"Um, Buffy, as much as I would _love_ to take a break…" he left the statement hanging.

It seemed to snap the blonde Slayer out of the trance she had fallen into. "Yeah," she mumbled. They turned to face each other and for the first time since Buffy had learned that she was going to die at the hands of the Master, Xander saw doubt, confusion, and fear in her eyes. Seeing such made him instinctually want to do two things; take her in his arms, tell her everything was going to be okay and be the emotional support his friend needed at that moment, OR, beat it the Hell outta her. He considered the place, and made his choice.

"Well, way I see it, we can do two things," he found his mouth saying without his full consent, "One, we can sit on our asses and wait for Goku and Willow to come back and Goku might actually through a tantrum, or he might just give us that disappointed pity look." Xander noticed that Buffy's eyes flashed with anger when he mentioned the look Goku had given them all numerous times that day. "Or two, we can do as he says and beat the holy livin' crap out of each other."

Buffy looked up at the 'normal' guy in her life. Ever since she had met him he had done everything in his power to endear himself to her. Make jokes, put himself in mortal danger, just to help her, and help Giles and Willow with the research thing. He had done the emotional support thing too, when necessary. Buffy thanked Heaven above for her friends while wondering what she could have done to deserve them in her life.

Buffy smiled boldly at Xander's comment and nodded. They approached each other until they were within short striking distance of one another. Buffy nodded to him, he nodded back.

"All right Xander, I'm going to swing at you, you block. I'll pull back, and then you'll swing a punch, and I'll block. For right now, at least until you get better at fighting, we'll go with that, kay?" Buffy explained, not wanting to hurt her friend, either emotionally or physically.

Xander nodded and put himself in the 'ready' position Goku had shown them.

Buffy swung a slow, but fast enough to still be one, right punch at Xander's jaw. His left arm shot up faster than she expected and successfully blocked it. She pulled her arm back and waited for the dark-haired youth's move.

She was genuinely surprised when his left arm shot out from the side faster than she expected, but her instincts were sharp enough to bring her own arm out to block it. Xander pulled back his arms and immediately raised his right arm to block the incoming punch from the Slayer. Not wanting to let her get one up on him, he shot his own hit out just as fast. She blocked. So it progressed, Buffy just going with a normal routine, as with a punching bag, hitting as fast as she could and blocking the return strikes, which came just as fast.

Xander found himself actually enjoying the light sparring occurring between him and his not-so-secret crush. So much so that he realized that she was lightening up on him. Her punches were just the lightest bit softer and her blocks were waiting until the last second to stop him. Feeling resentful, Xander decided to see if maybe he really _could_ give the other warrior a real workout.

Buffy was surprised when Xander's punches started to come faster, and landing with a little more force, and she was moving fast enough to recognize that his blocks were waiting until the last second or so to stop her hits. It was at this moment that Buffy remembered what she had learned about Xander earlier that day in the workout gym. He had only been using about half his power so far. Grinning despite herself, she wondered if _she_, not Goku, would be the one to bring her lanky dark-haired Xander shaped friend to his full potential.

Xander noticed Buffy's grin, and he realized with a shock that she was enjoying herself. He recalled Goku and Buffy saying something about the only time that they felt fulfilled was when they were getting stronger? Was that right? Well then, maybe giving Buffy a more than decent workout could count as their first date? Or maybe not. But still, since Slayer was grinning, Warrior X decided to give her something to grin about.

Xander, conserving his energy by focusing it, started to ignore the pattern they had developed into and just started to try and hit the Slayer as much and in as many places on her gorgeous body as possible. Buffy's eyes widened at the change in tactics, but her instincts and training allowed her to adapt nearly effortlessly. She quickly realized what Xander's objective was, though she didn't understand the reasoning behind it.

Buffy opened up with her sixth sense, feeling out Xander's budding power. She was amazed at how easy the new skill had become for her, and how quickly she found his power. In truth it was not far behind hers and was steadily growing, but she was still far stronger than the boy. She felt him accessing his power, raising it, relatively, higher than she had forced her own, in her rage-filled attack on Goku earlier. She discovered, though, _how_ he was doing it too. He was focusing his energy, conserving it and only bringing it to full out as he finished his strikes, allowing him to save his overall energy for more hits or later endurance. Basic karate.

She was amazed at how well Xander was handling himself, even blocking her own wild blows now. She then thought of trying what Xander was doing, focusing her energy, not just letting it all out in one single moment to fuel all of her movements, but to hold back until just before her strikes would land to power her hits.

Warrior X could almost immediately sense the change in his opponent. One second she had been scrambling to adapt, and had easily done so. Several moments later, she slowed in her own hits as she studied him. He didn't really mind, too focused on the next hit or block to care. And in the next moment, she seemed to relax, as she had been before he started focusing on wilder attacks, when they were just easing into it.

Warrior X was confused for a brief moment. He wanted to be the one to actually give Slayer what she wanted, and right now at this moment that was giving her the best workout she'd ever had. Yet he couldn't deny that when he had changed tactics all of a sudden, she had been working much harder, therefore more workout. So in order to give her what she wants, he would have to try even harder on his end of the fight. Here's where the conflict came in though, he didn't want to hurt her. Well, he figured that he probably _couldn't_ hurt her, even if he did try, but he wasn't really up to even wanting to try and hurt her. He momentarily flashed back on the moment that, once upon a time, had the Slayer actually backed into a corner.

It was during the Hyena possession thing. He still hadn't told anybody but Giles that he remembered every excruciatingly embarrassing detail of what had happened to him. What he hadn't told them though, what he hadn't told anybody and had taken nearly a year to discover, was that he still had the hyena strength, the senses, everything that he'd had when possessed. He knew he _wasn't_ still possessed, but he couldn't deny that his senses of smell and hearing had dramatically improved since the incident.

The strength aspect he hadn't noticed until he and Willow had started patrolling with Buffy on a regular basis. He could always smell the undead approaching, and could always hear Buffy and Willow's heartbeats as they fought, but the fact that the couple of times that he dared to actually fight a vampire one on one, he shocked himself by actually causing the vampire pain with his hits. He even managed to take some of the harder knocks easier than he had ever remembered taking hits like before. And somehow nobody but him had noticed.

Realizing that for once he could back Slayer into the same corner and she wouldn't run away, and might respect him for his new strength, Xander came to the undeniable conclusion that he had to fight full on, no holding back, it was time to let the "hyena" go.

She was a bit shocked when she had to blocked two rapid punches from Warrior X, and then he started to laugh. Not just any laugh though. One that sent chills up and down her spine, and had once given her a week of nightmares, though mild in comparison to many of her others. The laugh of the hyena. The one time that Xander had actually been scary and had nearly been strong enough to beat her.

His laughter was short lived. Only meant as an outward representation of the giddiness he felt as he finally let go of his inhibitions of strength and fear. Then he started actually trying to hit the Slayer. He began to watch her, even as they moved and blocked one another, looking for the weaknesses in her defense. He found several and immediately took advantage of them.

She was scared. She was scared of the fact that she was scared. Because she was scared of Xander, and he was the one person, other than her mother, in her life that she _wasn't_ supposed to be scared of.

His hits became harder than iron, faster than she would have thought possible, and he stopped just wild swinging. He began to target her weaknesses, where she was slow to block or left entirely open. He managed two very hard hits on her abdomen and a third a glancing blow off her right shoulder.

Slayer then recognized what he was doing. He was Fighting. He was intimidating her, studying her technique, finding the weaknesses, and taking full advantage of them while maintaining his own defense. She got angry at that.

She was the Slayer. She was the strong one, the Chosen One, she was the fighter! Not him! He was just the guy that liked to hang out with her, he made jokes, he flirted with her, and he even fawned over her a little bit. But he _wasn't better_ than her!

She wasn't sure where this line of thought came from, but she did know it made her blood boil. It gave her an anger that she had never associated with being the Slayer before. A sense of pride, in herself and her abilities. It made her want to win.

Feeling out with all her senses, Slayer noted with a subdued note of shock, since her primary focus was bent on beating Warrior X, that he had gone to _full_ power. He had somehow accessed the full potential that she had sensed in him. She had done what she had set out to do, now all she had to do was survive the encounter and still win the fight.

She studied X's form as he threw a punch at her face and she blocked it. In the next moment, her right arm flashed out and knocked the Warrior for a lulu. He staggered back from the blow, but he wasn't bleeding yet. Smiling dangerously, Warrior X laughed again and kicked Slayer in the stomach. She took the blow but didn't fall back, though she did have to bend over from it.

He waited patiently, for three seconds, before she leaped up and snap kicked at his jaw. He ducked under it, barely, and punched his arm where the Slayer would land. She caught the arm, but missed the punch coming from the other side and he got her across the jaw. After that, first blood was called and they began to seriously come close to killing each other. They fought like their lives depended on it and neither was willing to give an centimeter.

The fight continued until Goku came back, with a healed Willow who was groaning and begging to go back to the clinic as soon as the heavy gravity took its full effect on her once more. When she saw the fight however, all her concerns were suddenly for her two best friends, who looked very much like they were desperately trying to kill each other.

"Buffy! Xander!" she screamed, hoping to make them stop. Instead Buffy just high kicked Xander's head so his neck snapped dangerously backwards.

Goku put his hand on the young witch's shoulder to stop her from running into the brawl that had developed between the two friends. "Stop Willow," Goku ordered. "They have to work this out. Whether that be limits of training, or whatever emotional issues they're dealing with. You know it's almost natural. I've noticed Xander's crush on Buffy. She doesn't seem to really reciprocate his feelings. Add to that that she's stronger than him and nothing he seems to do ever gets her attention, I'd say that he resents her. As for Buffy, she's been holding back practically all day. I don't know if it was because of all of you or if she truly doesn't know how strong she is, but right now she's giving almost all she can give to really fight Xander and keep from killing him outright."

He stopped and looked at the worried redhead beside him, "Something you have to understand Willow, we here don't take death as seriously as you've been raised and learned to view it. It's just a part of training, and while unpleasant, almost as common as cramps in normal training. The only time we ever take death seriously is in the Tournament. We never, _ever_, joke about the Tournament. Not even with Champions. In anything else, death is nothing. Death is easy. Death, Willow, has been cheated."

Willow stared at the fight in front of her, listening with only a half an ear to what Goku was telling her. It wasn't until she saw Xander hit Buffy so hard that the Slayer actually had to take a step back, and absorb the retaliating kick the same way that Buffy would have, that Willow began to realize that Xander was getting his wish. He was becoming just as strong as Buffy and Angel. He could win the Slayer's heart if he could prove to her that he was just as good. Willow wondered briefly if she still had any chance whatsoever to win Xander's heart.

Willow got her answer when Buffy backhanded the youth so hard that he actually flew back to the floor. Not a chance in hell. What surprised Willow even further was that Buffy didn't let up on Xander when she knocked him away. She took a running start and then tried to jump kick his slumped body for further damage. Fortunately, he rolled out of the way in time, and then he took advantage by side-kicking the Slayer when she landed.

Buffy acted like she didn't even feel it, instead forcing Xander on the defensive with various punch/kick combos. Willow was horrified when she managed to catch glimpses of her friends' faces. Both were smeared with blood, and while Xander's was still bleeding from a cut on his cheek and his possibly broken nose, Buffy's was equally thick red from her lip and nose.

Finally Willow couldn't stand to just sit back and watch anymore. Turning on Goku she glared him full throttle with the "Resolve Face". "Aren't you going to stop them?!" she screeched. "I don't care about your views on death, but . . . they're…they're _killing_ each other!! They're best friends! They shouldn't be trying to kill each other! This is brutal, and, and, and…and…its wrong!"

The glare Goku turned on Willow blasted her "Resolve Face" out of the water and into subatomic particles. "You want them to stop Willow, stop them yourself. Until Buffy comes up and asks me, again, 'What next?' I'm content to let them beat each other into whatever bloody pulps their bodies can fit into. It teaches them endurance and how to take hits with the body. It'll help in the end, trust me on that Willow. But if you want them to stop this, you're going to have to stop them on your own."

Willow's resolve doubled at the challenge as she stared back under the intense look of her Trainer. When she turned back to the two she wanted to help, though, she started to feel a bit of doubt. Sucking it in, Willow ran as fast as she could, which in the heavy gravity wasn't as fast as she'd have liked, her intent to stop the fight in progress.

Yet the very moment that she got within range to be of any effect, Warrior X's fist, _not_ on the way towards Slayer, struck out and solidly connected with the girl's face. Willow fell back, more in shock that her best friend had just hit her than in pain from the blow. She thought he hadn't meant it, but the next moment, while Slayer was backing off a bit after a rather hard hit from the warrior, he turned to her, and grinned darkly. Then he laughed.

Recognizing the laugh, and feeling identical feelings to the ones Buffy'd had, Willow just fell into the ready stance, understanding that her words would not reach her friend while he was in this state. He just laughed again and snapped out a kick at her head. She barely dodged it in time and moved forward to punch him in the face. Instead his left hand just appeared in front of her nose and backhanded her with the force of a home run softball. In short, _hard._

Willow knew her nose was broken immediately as she staggered back from the surprise blow. "OWWWW!!" she screeched, her hand automatically going to cover the wound. X just laughed and was about to taunt her, but Slayer had other ideas.

The moment that Willow's screech reached her ear, she felt a burning sensation form deep in her chest and a stark fear ran ice through her veins. The next sight she saw was X, still laughing like a hyena, stalking closer to the injured redhead. She didn't think, she just moved.

Warrior X wasn't sure what happened. One second he had been about to make a one-liner about girls being wusses, the next thing, he knew only pain. Slayer, who'd been behind him and was now between him and Willow, had suddenly kicked him in his chest, followed instantly by two punches to his face, a kick to the small of his back, and a knee to his head, knocking him back at least three meters.

Willow entertained thoughts, going along with the current level of insanity, of Buffy suddenly turning on her and beating her until she really was little more than a pile of flesh and bones. Instead, she and Goku were somewhat surprised to see her go back after Xander. She almost dived on top of him, grabbing him by the lapels of his jacket and dragging him to his feet.

Any defense that X could have mounted was utterly wasted in the next second as Slayer brought her knee upwards for another attack. This time in an area far more sensitive to X's position. Goku actually winced, feeling sympathy for the other male. Willow just stared in disbelief, her broken nose forgotten.

As for X, well he gave the typical reaction and every single cell of fight left him. Slayer just stood over him as she let him slump to the ground, cupping his crotch as though she would dare to hit him there again. Instead she just wiped the blood from her chin. Her own blood the startling realization came to her. Suddenly, all of the pains, hurts, bruises, and cuts X had inflicted on her during their "sparring" match was screaming out their agonies.

A hissing noise could be heard. Buffy wondered what it was, looking around the room for the source. After several moments, they all realized it was Xander, trying to talk. He managed to gasp out a few more breaths of air, but couldn't do much more than that.

Buffy began to panic that she had actually hurt him. Yet one look at his crumpled form told her that she indeed had injured him, it was the fact he wasn't speaking that had her so worried. "Xan…" she croaked, her own voice failing her. She tried again, "Xander?" a little better, "Are-are you…OK?"

He managed to spare enough energy to lift one hand from his crotch to wave the blond Slayer closer to him. She hesitated for but a second, her Slayer instincts telling her that he might be trying to ambush her, but she ignored them. She knelt down beside him, worry evident in her expression. "Xander?" she asked again, her face a short distance from his.

The look of pain that had been on his face suddenly evaporated like the air and before Buffy could recognize the change, he grabbed her with an iron grip around the throat and kicked forth with his right leg. He then kicked her with enough force to knock her back, over two meters away. "Gotchya," the warrior exclaimed as he leapt to his feet.

X then turned to Willow, and stopped. He was shocked to see the blood on her face. Flowing from her broken nose. A broken nose he had given her. He almost stopped the fight right then and there, but Slayer literally demanded his attention.

"X!" she screamed, realizing he was in his "warrior" mode. He turned just in time to see the enraged Slayer rushing at him. He fell into a defense stance and blocked her first two hits, and managing to get out a few of his own before she started pummeling him six ways to Sunday.

Buffy was letting loose all her frustrations of the past 48 hours on Xander's nearly defenseless form. She didn't think he deserved to be called a Warrior, not yet at any rate. His power was strong, stronger than anybody could have guessed, but hers was stronger still, and she'd just proven it. Her Slayer instinct driven blood lust demanded she end it, and end it with a surefire method. Normally 'Buffy' would've tried to repress this dark urge, but the Slayer didn't.

After a brutal combo, Slayer jumped up, and slammed her left leg as hard as she physically could into the warrior's chest. They all heard a sound distinctive of cracking wood, and Slayer realized she had just broken his ribs. The boy fell back to the mat, trying to catch a breath of air, but unable to do so. Slayer fell with him, her leg still on his body. Deciding to take pity and not let him choke to death or drown on his own fluids, Slayer wrapped her inhumanly strong legs around the dark-haired teen's neck. She began to squeeze until she felt she had a good enough grip, and then she twisted her legs the opposite direction his head had been meant to turn in. The force was just enough, and everybody heard the sickening crunch and Xander's eyes glazed over and all of his struggles ceased in the next second.

Trying to catch her breath, Buffy tenderly untangled herself from Xander's corpse and tried to stand up, forgetting that the gravity was supposed to be heavier than normal. She managed to get to her knees, and felt satisfied enough with that to stay where she was. That was when she looked up and saw the look on Willow's face.

A look of pure shock, horror, revulsion, and ever-present throughout all of these, fear. Fear of Buffy. Fear of what she had just done. Buffy immediately realized her mistake. She had heard Willow's conversation with Goku and had assumed that the redhead had actually listened and realized what it meant. Buffy had caught on to the same truths after her first sparring match with Goku, and had guessed that Xander had to.

"Willow…?" Buffy whispered out, trying to stand to her feet. She succeeded after the third try. Yet when she tried to take a tentative step towards her friend, Willow just backed fearfully away from her, like she was some kind of dangerous animal.

Buffy felt her heart break at the action. Willow hated her. Her emotions suddenly raced out of her control and she began to feel weak. Her legs were about to give out when the group became aware of a bright golden glow behind her.

Buffy heard Xander stand to his feet behind her and heard him mutter loud enough for all to hear, "Geez Buff, you couldn't have gone any softer on me could you?" he asked in a voice that was entirely sarcastic.

"Xander?" Willow's voice trembled as she spoke. "You're alive?"

"Well yeah Will, we are immortal now y'know," Xander responded.

In the next instant, the blackness that had been threatening the periphery of Buffy's vision suddenly swam up and completely assaulted her, she had no more strength left to fight it. Her last thought was, '_Willow hates me…'_

As he was standing up Xander noticed that all of his injuries, particularly his broken ribs and the cuts on his lip and cheek were completely healed, as though they had never been. He did have a sharp pain in his neck though, every time he turned it a certain way. He hoped it would go away eventually.

Xander was actually surprised that Willow hadn't been aware of the purpose of the exercise just now. They really were supposed to train until they killed each other. Then they'd just get back up and kill each other again. He just hoped that Buffy had gotten the workout she wanted from him.

Just to check, he looked up at Buffy after answering Willow, and asked, "Hey Buff, did I give you a good enough workout?"

Buffy just stood there, looking like she'd had the crap beat out of her. All of a sudden, her legs just seemed to be cut right out from under her. "BUFFY!!" Xander and Willow cried together. Xander didn't have time to think, he just reacted, jumping forward and catching Buffy's body as it started to fall to the heavy gravity.

"Buffy! Buffy!" Xander was shouting, trying to get the blonde to wake up.

Goku appeared in the next second, standing over the three huddled teenagers. He knelt by Buffy's head, which Xander was cradling, and opened her eyelids and checked the rest of her vitals in quick succession. After he was through he took a sigh of relief, and part amazement.

"She's still alive," he told her friends. "But obviously she's pretty beat up. Now we have two options here, one, we take her to the Clinic, or two, we kill her now and she's fully revitalized in seconds as opposed to an hour or more."

Willow and Xander shared a look. Willow's held a heavy concentration of doubt about everything, while Xander's just offered the redhead a question. Willow, still very confused, just looked back and forth between Buffy's unconscious and bloodied body and Xander, looking like he had just woken up from a pleasant nap.

"Xander…?" Willow croaked.

"It's true Willow. When we die, the second that we revive, we're perfectly healed. I mean, look at me! I was bleeding all over the place, my ribs were broken, and I think I might have sprained a whole lot of stuff. Now I feel better than ever. Well, except feeling heavier than my uncle's car. And I get the sharp pain when I turn my neck just so." Xander said.

Willow's eyes widened at the last statement as she kept in mind _what_ exactly had killed Xander. Finally, Willow worked through enough of her disbelief to put her mind on Buffy's problem. Spend the rest of the day healing in the sterile Clinic where they were treated as so much pieces of meet to poke, prod, and measure. Or snap her neck so her immortality could heal her instantly.

They all knew what Buffy would choose, but Willow was the one to say it. "Kill her. But not painfully!" she begged, looking at Goku.

Goku just shrugged and looked at Xander. When the teens noticed, Xander started yelling, "What?"

Goku just shrugged again. "She killed you X, now it's your turn. Then I have to take Willow back to the Clinic to fix her broken nose."

Willow had tendrils of fear run down her back at the thought of going back to that meat locker. "Why don't you just kill me now," she muttered sarcastically. "It'd hurt less."

Goku shrugged again and then punched the girl in the face so hard that shards of cartilage and bone from her nose were driven into her brain, causing instant death. Xander just stared in disbelief as Willow collapsed to the gray-tiled floor, her face literally caved in.

"Umm, Goku…" Xander squeaked.

"Yeah X?" the Trainer said cheerfully.

"Just this once, would you mind killing Buffy? I-I, um I'm not feeling up to it at the moment, and…and I think I'll just let it go this one time, 'kay?" Xander said lightly, still staring at Willow's corpse.

"Okay," Goku said easily, then stood up and kicked Buffy's chest in, till the top of her chest was less than a millimeter from the top of the floor. (Think crushed cookie paste)

In the next few seconds, both Willow and Buffy began glowing until the light was blinding and they stood up in the next second under their own power, feeling no pains at all. "What happened?" Willow muttered.

"You asked me to kill you, so I did. Instantly so you wouldn't feel anything," he answered.

Buffy was silent, remembering her last conscious thought, '_Willow hates me…'_

Deciding to move on, Buffy, sounding rather tense turned to the Saiyan and said stiffly, "So what's next? Glad to see Willow's OK and everything, but we've got a lot to do. So how about Xander take a shot at you and you give me something else to do, huh?"

Goku just stared blankly at her for a few moments. "OK," he finally nodded. "Do what Xander was doing. Don't stop until I tell you, and don't stop and ask me what's next because you're bored. Willow, stomach crunches. Xander, we're over here."

The team from the Hellmouth put up no argument, sensing the strangeness of the mood and choosing to just do as told and not whine or complain about it for once. Buffy practiced her punching, unconsciously staying as far away from Willow as possible, while Willow just dropped down and did stomach crunches and sit-ups while Xander punched and kicked at their Trainer who effortlessly avoided his attempts. They didn't quit until the end of the day, nine and a half hours later.

It was actually ten hours after the end of Buffy and Xander's "fight" that the trio managed to hobble back through the MTC to their apartment. More than a half hour spent in the Clinic for something the Doctors would only ever refer to as a "Check-up" and only in their native language, none of which happened to be human, let alone English.

That wasn't the worst part of it though. The minimal 'worseness' of it was th décor of the place, nothing but thoroughly sterilized stainless steel-like machinery, furniture, walls, floor, and even the beds they were forced to sit uncomfortably on. It was worse than they thought it would be, mostly because they all felt like they were in some kind of meat-grinding butcher's shop chop block. Willow had already been there, so was at least prepared for it. Buffy and Xander weren't so much.

The absolute very worst about the Clinic however, were the Doctors. They treated them like so much mass of meat to be picked, poked, prodded, scanned, weighed, and measured. They spoke like the patients weren't even there, even though with the Universal Translators they could all understand perfectly, talking to the computer with the test results and not even caring about the groups' comfort or feelings.

_Finally_, the Doctors, if that was what they could be called, let them go, and Goku set the red portal back to their apartment and told them he would pick them all up at the same time (and in the same way) the next morning, which thankfully was not for another ten or so hours.

The moment that they were through the portal and in their "apartment" that they still had not fully explored yet, all three of them noticed a remarkable change.

"What the hell?" Willow cursed as she suddenly stood straight, feeling lighter than a feather.

"Yeah, I feel it too Will," Xander added, feeling the same.

"Well, it _is_ a little less stuffy in here," Buffy quietly observed, still feeling tired and mildly heavy.

"They must've turned the GEO thingies off," she surmised, then asked, "Cool. I suddenly don't feel as tired. You guys want something to eat?"

They both declined, choosing to go and lay out on the comfy couches and recliners. Xander plopped down on the larger couch and started to pretend like he was sleeping, though both girls could tell that he was faking it. The over-done snoring sounds were their first clue. Willow sat down in one of the comfy gray recliners, sighing as the cushions immediately conformed to her body to give maximum support and comfort.

Buffy ambled on over to the bar where they'd had their breakfast and sat at the stenciled seat with her name. "Can I get something to eat please?" she asked aloud.

A computer-like beep of confirmation sounded from either the wall or the bar itself as a holographic display, of green and yellow light, suddenly popped up in front of the blonde Slayer. In yellow/gold 3-D print, was the question 'WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE?'

Buffy frowned a little. Then she remembered, the two times that Goku had let them eat all day, he had said something about their personal menus. So she shrugged and decided to see what she had available before just saying anything that they might not even have.

"Can I see my personal menu first please?"

'CODENAME PLEASE…' was displayed.

Buffy sighed and remembered the trouble she had with her door last night and Goku's explanation of it. "Slayer," she answered shortly.

'ACCESSING…' 2 seconds later, 'FULL NUTRITIONAL MEAL DISPLAY OPTIONS:'

Right below that, the entire green-light screen was full of five columns of names of both snacks, meals, and, in English, the names of every single food item that Buffy had ever thought was good. Buffy didn't really want to count, but she suspected each column to contain well over 100 items each.

Gulping at the fact that anybody could know this much about her, Buffy skimmed the lists until she came to something that sounded particularly tasty; rotisserie baked chicken, mashed potatoes and crème mushroom gravy, and corn on the cob. She chose Coke as a drink. Making her selection, which amazingly enough was just to tap the item on the screen, which then highlighted, and then pushing 'SELECT' area in the bottom right corner of the screen, and ten seconds later, during which the screen disappeared, the counter hummed for one second, and the remaining seconds were given to the materialization of the food from the same green light that had manifested their breakfast that morning, complete with utensils, she had her meal.

Buffy immediately dived into the meal much the same way that Goku had devoured his at lunch, not caring in the slightest for any noises or messes that he'd made. She just knew she was hungry and this was food, which would make her not hungry.

As Xander and Willow sat in the "lounge area", the soft, subtle, yet incredibly mouth-watering scents of Buffy's dinner made it's way over to their nostrils, to the nerves at the top of their noses, and into their brains, which registered as pleasure. A much desired pleasure.

Xander's nose started twitching the moment the scent hit him, though his eyes remained closed. Willow just turned around and stared at Buffy's back, her mouth opening some, the drool pooling higher in her mouth threatening to spill out over the edge.

"Um, Buffy?" Willow managed to call out after swallowing the large amount of fluids retained in her mouth. Buffy had to pause in her shoveling to swallow and turn around, her mouth rimmed with the gravy from the potatoes. "Yeah Will?" Buffy asked carefully, still thinking that Willow hated her for what had happened hours before in the gym.

"What… what is that you're doing?" the pale redhead asked with a hunger in her voice.

"Eating," the Slayer answered shortly, as though it were obvious. Xander was sitting up at that.

"Um, eat-eating what exactly?" Willow asked, trying to control her voice.

"Oh! Chicken and mashed potatoes, with corn on the cob," she answered, pronouncing potatoes as Poe tot Toes. She then giggled a little. "I never did like saying it that way. Potato, potato." She said, comparing the two sounds of the same word.

"Uh huh," Willow mumbled, getting up and slowly making her way to the bar. Xander was right behind her. They both had a gaunt, hungry look in their glazed eyes.

In the next instant, they both were at their places and gazing intently at the half-finished plate that Buffy had turned back to, though now eating at a more conservative pace.

"Um, Buff, how-how…" Xander had to stop himself from drooling. "How you get food?"

Buffy had the decency to stop, grab the napkin that had appeared with the plate and wiped her mouth before grinning and answering Xander's question. She was glad that neither of them was angry with her over what had happened to them in the past forty-eight hours or so.

"Just ask the computer for your menus, but don't forget to include your code name. Then pick and viola." Buffy explained.

Both were obviously just as starved as Buffy was, as they immediately followed Buffy's instructions, their words tumbling over one another's. Buffy glanced at their menus while they had them up, and was mildly surprised to see each in a different format. Willow's looked to have just as many per column as she had in her entire menu, possibly more, but with only four columns. Xander's was actually much smaller than both of theirs. His had roughly six to eight columns, from what Buffy could see, but each column was maybe twenty or less per column.

When they finally picked, both had picked whole pizzas and sodas, Willow the "Veggie lovers" and Xander extra cheese and each had grape soda. They began to devour their food almost as fast as Buffy had and were concentrating on nothing else. Buffy began to eat once more, but at a considerably more civilized rate than she had been before.

Thirty minutes later, after Buffy having seconds and both other teens finishing all of their pizzas, the plates and other stuff disappeared as the teenagers filled themselves with food and went back to the lounge to just generally relax.

Buffy, having been tense ever since they came back to the apartment, decided to have that "talk" that they all needed to have. There was just one thing missing. Giles.

"Has anybody seen Giles?" Buffy asked, disrupting the silence that had held the room.

Both teens shook their head, feeling content after the fulfilling meal and still exhausted from the earlier trials. Buffy began to feel a creepy tingle of worry at the back of her neck as she stood up.

"Did Goku, or anybody else, say where he would be going to train? I'm serious guys, I'm starting to get worried." Buffy said.

Willow frowned some, but didn't get up. "Have you tried his room?" she asked naively.

Buffy quirked her eyebrows, actually considering the logic of the question. Then she just walked over to the door with 'WATCHER' stenciled in blue next to it. She pressed the panel beside it, hoping that would open. Instead she just heard some kind of computer-generated chirp that actually sounded like a doorbell ringing. Surprised, Buffy did it again. Same result.

Just as she was about to press it a third time, the door suddenly opened and there was Giles directly in front of her, with a rather sour look on his face. As soon as he saw who it was, his expression instantly lightened and he looked rather pleased to see her.

"Buffy!" he exclaimed. "I'm surprised to see you here. What can I do you for?"

Buffy blinked. Was this that same Giles from earlier? She quickly composed herself and answered him. "Uh, I-uh, I need you out here for-for a minute. Are you done meditating?"

"Yes, I finished just a few minutes ago actually. I really wasn't expecting you all back this early," Giles said as he left his room.

Buffy wondered about his statement. They hadn't exactly been away from each other for only a class period. "Giles, how long do you think you've been here?" Buffy asked as they both sat down in the lounge.

Giles made an 'I don't know' gesture and said, "Well, that's where things get rather confusing. I have absolutely no concept of outside time when meditating, but if it helps, from my point of view, since I've last seen the three of you when Goku sent me here to meditate in peace, to me it's felt like approximately three hours. I can only imagine that I've been out for about five or six hours."

The three teenagers stared at him, prompting him to add, "Or possibly longer."

"Try more like 19 hours Giles! We've been through the absolute worst training that you can imagine, and probably some stuff that you can't! And me worrying about how your handling your new magic sword…" Buffy ranted.

"Blade," Giles corrected.

Buffy looked annoyed for several moments before continuing. "Blade," she amended, "Me worrying about how you are doing is not exactly helping my concentration factor. I… Giles, _I'm_ the one in charge, _I'm_ responsible for all of us. The Powers said it themselves, I'm the representative of this group, and that means that I have to take care of all of us."

"Buffy nobody expects you to…" Giles began.

"Buffy, we don't expect you to be anything more than you already are…" Willow started.

"Guys!" Xander shouted, quieting the intellectuals.

"Buff," Xander said, "I get the pressure you're under. I even get a lot of what we're doing here. Above all, I get the _purpose_ of what we're doing here. To learn how to fight and get strong enough to actually _do_ said fighting. Unfortunately, I'm afraid that only you and I fully understand what we're going to have to do," he said, pointedly looking at Willow. She blushed.

"Willow, out of all us, I understand that you are not a violent person, and you aren't really the fighting type. But Will… For crying out loud! We're immortal! We don't have to worry about being careful to not die. I'll be the first to admit that I would _rather_ avoid it, it is quite painful after all. But we are all going to have to push ourselves pretty damn far. Shit, dying is probably going to be the easiest thing we can do in all of this."

They were all silent as Xander spoke. "Willow, you're going to be involved in magic, while Buffy and me are going to be more physical. Giles apparently is going to be off on his own, and by the way G-man, your attitude totally sucked today."

Giles scrunched his face in confusion. "Excuse me?" he asked, his voice a bit stressed. "I have no idea what you're talking about…" He suddenly stopped talking and turned to look back at his room, as though he'd heard someone calling him.

He stood up, saying, "Excuse me for a moment, would you?" Then walked back to his room, leaving the door open until he came back out, walking much slower with the open Blade in his hands. "Giles?" Buffy said in concern.

The Watcher looked up at his name and quickly rejoined them by the couches. "I'm sorry for that you all. But…I…I heard…the Blade, Nightblade, calling me. I know that sounds strange…"

"Actually, since the sword is sentient Giles, it's not that surprising. So what does '_Nightblade_' need you for?" Buffy asked.

Giles turned all of his attention to the obsidian Blade in his hand, as though listening to it. After about a minute, he looked back up at Buffy, guilt written on the Englishman's face. "Buffy I feel I owe you an apology. Nightblade has…just explained to me…" he paused.

"Explained what Giles?" Buffy prompted.

"Apparently, if…if my meditation is ever interrupted, at any point before I have fully completed doing so, then…Nightblade actually takes over."

"It takes over your body!" Xander screamed.

Giles hastily shook his head. "No, that's not what I mean. I…when I meditate with the Blade, which is a he by the way, I…it's difficult to explain in words. I…give a part of myself to the Blade, and in return, it gives me a part, the part of it that allows me to…_learn_ how I can best use it. When I meditate, we, the Blade and I, we fortify that bond. In short, it _directly_ teaches me how to use and understand its powers. In return for that, it…in a very, very mild sense, possesses my body. When you…interrupted me earlier Buffy, it was Nightblade that was in control. He…he apologizes for usurping your authority, and both he and I pledge ourselves to you. Though you must understand Buffy…allowances must be made."

Buffy was listening very carefully as Giles tried to explain his relationship with his new swor…Blade. When he finished, or at least looked like he had, Buffy spoke. "Thank you Giles, and…thank you Nightblade," she directed the last comment to the weapon in her mentor's hands. "I understand, at least I think I do, what it is you have to do, and why, but…" Buffy stopped and looked Giles directly in the eye, showing her soul to him and the Blade. "Giles, please…don't ever degrade me like that again. I'll stand up to a little cheek every now and then, and maybe even a temper tantrum, but don't ever talk to me like you did today. Ever again."

All were silent as they felt the emotion in the room. The black weapon between them all suddenly flashed blue, not lasting even an instant, but its message was still conveyed in that amount of time. It was sorry, and it swore to never break the oath it had just made. Giles, with tears pooling around his eyes, just nodded, heartbroken that he could ever do such a thing to his Slayer, ever. He suddenly felt the urge to go and meditate again.

Buffy noticed Giles' sudden anxiety and decided to ask about it. "Giles? Is something wrong?"

Giles just shook his head, then said, "Well, actually I'm not too sure. I suddenly feel an overwhelming urge to go and meditate again." Buffy nodded.

"OK, but first," she said, "would…would you mind telling me if I made the right decision?"

Giles didn't even have to hesitate. He just smiled at her, "Yes, you did Buffy. The Powers warned us themselves, there would be challenges coming that we could have never faced unless we came here. I have every confidence in you Buffy. Please, never doubt that."

Buffy grinned, tears suddenly threatening to wet her cheeks. She stood, as Giles was already standing, and gave him a quick goodnight hug. "Now go and meditate. And don't forget, we have to be ready to go before six. I want to at least try and get up before Goku shows up." Giles nodded, "Of course Buffy. Good night."

"Night Giles!"

"Night G-man!"

Once the Watcher was in his room, the door shut, Xander and Willow turned to Buffy and gave her their best intimidating glares. It just gave her the urge to start laughing. Yet her present frame of thought gave her all the encouragement that she needed to sober up.

"All right Buffy," Willow said, resolve face on full blast, "you've been acting weird since the fight with Xander. Which by the way I understand and don't have any problems with now. Buffy, we're your friends. Tell us what the problem is."

"Yeah Buff," Xander added.

Buffy sat back down at her seat, and suddenly found her knees very fascinating. Finally she looked up at her two best friends in the entire world, "Do you think I made the right choice?"

At their confused looks, she continued, "Coming here. Accepting this whole destiny and true power thing the Powers shoved in our faces. Did I do the right thing?"

Willow smiled, "Buffy, I think you're forgetting something here. _I _was the deciding vote, remember? So what do you think? Besides, some of the books I've already gotten to read…" Willow's smile actually brightened, "It's almost beyond comprehension. This place is amazing Buffy. And I admit, a tad harsh, but hey, that's life."

"And you know me Buffy, I've been 'gung-ho' since the get go!" Xander added.

The two girls cracked up at Xander's quip, but they all soon quiet their laughter. The somber mood returned and Willow began to think that there was more to Buffy's problem than what she had just admitted.

"Buffy, other than the whole self-doubt issue…is there anything else the matter?" Willow asked.

Xander looked up, but said nothing as Buffy studied her knees once more. "No," the blonde said uncertainly. Xander and Willow shared a look. Xander nodded and stood up.

"Well ladies, I for one am ready to turn in," he said making a humorous display of stretching and yawning.

"Xander wait," Buffy called, as he was almost to his door. He turned back and approached. "Sit down," she asked. Frowning, he did.

Buffy considered trying to find some roundabout way of asking, but she was tired and couldn't think of anything, so she decided on the direct approach. Looking Willow in the eye, she asked, all her emotions in her voice, "Do you hate me Willow?"

Willow's eyes widened and her face fell and paled almost dangerously as her brain short-circuited. Buffy ducked her head, afraid of the redhead's reaction.

"Buffy! How-how-how, how can you say that?!" Willow near exploded when her voice caught up with her sudden hyperventilating breath. "Of course I don't hate you!! I could never hate you! Note the use of negative words like don't and never! Buffy…I love you, and I repeat I could never hate you, not even for an instant." Willow felt a sudden and completely overwhelming compulsion, she got up and was across the small space separating them in a second, where she hugged Buffy in a tight and shaking embrace.

Buffy, the tears she'd been holding for the last eleven hours finally falling as she easily accepted Willow and they just held each other. Xander, while appreciating the possibility of a girl/girl moment, knew when to be just a friend and not a guy.

"Buffy…is this because of the whole fight earlier? Because I'm pretty sure nobody was permanently hurt from that," Xander said.

Buffy turned her gaze to Xander, and he had to gulp from the intensity she directed at him. "Why did you hit Willow anyway? She wasn't even in the fight!" Buffy's voice sounded like diamond against plaster.

Xander just shrugged, looking rather beaten himself. "I guess I've got a confession of my own to make. Remember last year, the field trip to the Zoo? The whole hyena thing?"

"It's not exactly easy to forget Xander," Willow said.

"Yeah, well…"

"It's OK Xander, we know it wasn't you in control," Buffy said.

"Uh, kinda, yeah. Well, that's kind of a yes and no type deal." Xander said.

The two girls stopped and stared at the dark-haired youth. They looked at each other, and Willow slid out of Buffy's embrace. "What do you mean Xander?" Buffy asked.

Xander, desperate, and fearing retribution, "I wasn't actually in control, something else was, I still don't know what, but…" He took a deep breath. "But. I remember everything. Everything. Willow, I am so sorry for what I told you when I was locked in the cage. I swear I didn't mean a word of it. I wasn't in control. But I did lie that I didn't remember any of it. I'm sorry."

Both girls took deep breaths of their own before turning back to one another and then back to Xander. "I take it there's a reason that brought about this confession _now_?" Buffy asked with a note of ire.

Xander repressed the urge to run away screaming and settled on gulping. "Uh, yeah. Re-remember the, that is, when I had the whole super senses and was almost as strong as you were Buff?" he asked. They both nodded. "Well, Istillhavethem." He said in a rush.

Buffy and Willow blinked and stood up to face their friend. "Meaning…what?" Buffy asked.

Xander shrugged. "Meaning, I can smell vampires, and you, and everything else that I could while possessed, and my hearing is definitely better. And when we've been helping you on patrol Buffy? I-I kinda noticed that the strength is still there too. I don't have any hankerings for meat or, uh…mating, but the…the powers are still there."

"What about the others? The bullies?" Willow asked. Xander could only shrug.

Buffy however, saw how the pattern fit with everything. "Huh," she grunted. "So that's the power I sensed inside you. The hyena spirit? And when you were fighting me, when you were going all out, that's when you started to rely totally on what was left of the hyena? That was why you attacked Willow while I was distracted?"

Xander, his throat dry, nodded.

"Wow," Willow breathed, sitting back down. "But why did you think I hated you Buffy?"

Buffy almost cringed. "When…after I had knocked Xander out…I saw the look on your face. I…I thought you hated me."

Willow could almost laugh, but her heavy heart prevented it. "No Buffy, I didn't hate you. I was scared of you. Xander, my best friend since kindergarten, punched me with very little reason. By the way Xander," she paused as Buffy punched him in the nose, drawing blood, but not breaking it, "I forgive you. Thanks Buffy." The blonde only nodded, smiling with her friend.

"If he did that to me," Willow then continued, "and Goku was all rootin' to see us fight each other, when you finished Xander, I was afraid that you would turn against me too. It was all kind of instinctual anyway. I'm sorry I hurt you Buffy."

Buffy sat back down and put her arm across Willow's shoulders. "It's OK Willow. But unless I give you warning or Goku tells me to, after a very long fight I might add, I will never fight you. I just couldn't do that Willow." Buffy explained. "Doesn't mean we won't ever spar, just means that I won't ever attack you without prior warning."

Willow chuckled and nodded.

"So now what?" Xander asked, sounding as beat as he looked.

Buffy shrugged, her arm still around Willow. "I don't know. We could go to bed, get however many hours extra sleep we'll be needing. Or. We could stay up talking until we're falling asleep where we sit."

"We got enough sleep, I say we talk." Willow said.

Xander gave a lopsided grin and got more comfortable in his recliner opposite the couch. "Sure, why not? So what spells did you learn today Wills?"

Buffy felt Willow shrug herself as they both got more comfortable on the couch opposite Xander. "A lot of things. Some of it, well, I can't really tell you. Other stuff you have to read to even believe possible, and a whole lot of it is in languages that have more letters than English has words. But there was this one thing that I found very familiar."

"What is it?" Buffy asked.

"It's called a Tri-power shield. Basically it uses the spiritual and body energy, also called the Aura energy, of three different people and focuses it into a dome-like shield that protects against all physical, and even some magical harm."

Buffy frowned. "That kinda sounds like…"

"The shield spell that I cast yesterday in the Main Gym when Goku was giving his demonstration!" Willow finished for her. "I began to wonder how I could have possibly known that spell when I only learned _of_ it today. Then I found this other spell that is basically a Temporal-phase mental amplification spell." At her friends' confused looks, she explained further. "Actually, it's called the 'Knowledge of Time' spell. It more or less just allows somebody, with help of course, to send knowledge, whether experience or just like future learned stuff back in time to a person that you want to influence. Usually just yourself. And before you start thinking of like sending lottery numbers or sports scores to yourself, it only works for a brief period of time, and depending on how strong the caster, or casters as the case may be, you could only send it about a day back in time. Like when Xander went to get Angel to help during the night Spike showed up was like a moment of inspiration. For me to have cast that spell…well…"

"Well what Will?" Xander asked.

"Well, I would kinda need to do this Time spell in like…maybe a few minutes in order to send that…moment of inspiration that occurred yesterday." Willow looked kinda sheepish.

"So ya wanna do it? I mean, we can do it, right?" Buffy asked.

"Oh yeah, we can do it. It doesn't require any extra supplies or a ritual or nothing. Not even the shield spell. That only requires the energy that I used from you guys already. As for this knowledge thing, it's more a meditation exercise than anything else. But…I'd kinda need both of you to help. I'd do the focusing and the spell and everything, but I kinda need to you help and give me enough energy to make sure that it can actually happen. But if you don't want to it…" she trailed off.

"Well…" Buffy said. "Didn't we, technically speaking, already do it? I mean, you already cast that shield spell, we all saw you do it. And if we don't do this knowledge through time spell, wouldn't that kinda be like changing the past. So we already did cast it, but in order for the shield thing to happen, we have to cast it again?"

"I know, it's kind of a paradox, but we don't have to. I mean, if we don't then all that means is we'll get dusty when Goku does the demonstration…"

"Let's do it!" Buffy and Xander shouted at the same time as they stood up.

"Okay," Willow meekly added and stood up and led them to one of the clear areas in the room. She had them sit in a more or less triangle and take each others hands.

"Close your eyes and try to stay relaxed. If anything happens, believe me, you'll know it."

Within thirty seconds, Buffy suddenly knew something had happened. She was suddenly seeing the same thing she had seen yesterday at the demonstration. The two energy blasts being shot at Goku hanging mid-air. Only thing was, she knew it was from Willow's perspective.

She suddenly felt Willow, the Willow she was sitting in a circle with in their apartment, doing something, sending her knowledge of the Tri-power shield to her past self. She didn't know how or why, but she was fully aware of Xander and Willow with her, but didn't know what to think of it. Then she was too overwhelmed by seeing the collision of the beams on Goku, again, and the onrushing cloud of dust.

Almost out of nowhere she heard her own voice say, 'This is not the time for spell casting Willow' to which she herself immediately answered in her own head, '_Yes it is_' and thought nothing more of it. And in the next few moments, she felt something that she had never even felt before. The spell taking shape, and drawing power from the past versions of herself, Xander, Giles, and a little bit from Willow.

After the shield was dispelled, Buffy thought they would just immediately zap back to the present, but instead she found herself, and her friends with a little problem.

'_What! Who are you? What are you doing in my head?'_ Past-Willow was thinking at them.

'_Uh oh,'_ Xander thought.

'_Xander?!'_ Past-Willow thought with alarm.

'_Forget,'_ Willow thought to her former-self. And that was that. Past-Willow forgot all about them and the spell she had just cast and woke up to find her friends catatonic with shock. After that, the astral time-travelers returned to their bodies in the present.

"Well that was an experience," Xander commented when they all opened their eyes.

"I'll say," Buffy added.

"Well, look at the bright side. At least we didn't get dusty!" Willow chirped.

"Why are you so suddenly chirpy?" Buffy noted with annoyance.

"I cast a spell! And it worked! Usually my first attempts are a lot less than nothing. And now, in three days, I get no less than five whole and new spells to work on the first try," Willow exclaimed. "Buffy, that's like you being able to punch out Goku with one hit. I'm just so happy it worked. And there haven't been any consequences yet."

"Consequences?" Xander and Buffy echoed.

"Uh, I'll tell you in the morning. I think I just found consequence number one. Man, am I tired," Willow yawned.

"Yeah me too," Buffy quietly said.

Xander just yawned and stood up with half-lidded eyes.

"OK, time to go to bed, nightie-night," Willow shuffled to her feet and turned to her own bedroom door. The other two followed her example, Xander reaching his and disappearing first. Just before she could reach hers though, Buffy turned around as Willow called her name.

"Buffy?" she asked, her vocals tired and worried at the same time. "Do-do, do you forgive me? For being scared of you? I-I'm sorry Buffy I never…"

"There's nothing to forgive Willow. Have a good nights sleep," Buffy said quietly, looking intently at the young witch.

"Open," the door opened. She stepped inside, but turned back to see Willow staring after her. Their eyes met. "Close." The door closed.


End file.
